About Thirty
(Arturo a los 30)
Martín Shanly | Drama, Comedy, Fiction
2023 | 90 minutes | Argentina
A comedy of errors revolving around a hapless 30-year-old named Arturo and his penchant for indiscretions as the film springs between decades.
Synopsis
Buenos Aires in March 2020, just days before the outbreak of the pandemic. A wedding is being celebrated; a car overturns. The guests share joints, kisses, sex, and the memory of a loss.
At the center of this comedy of errors is Arturo, played by director Martín Shanly. He is every bit as drawn to misfortune as he is directionless – qualities he shares with the film's full cast of characters. His faux pas and blunders stand in inverse relation to the finesse with which the film elegantly glides back in time from the wedding day to the 2010s. As episodes from Arturo’s life come to the fore – a bus trip to Patagonia with his trans housemate, a painfully awkward dress rehearsal for a play – narrative time is compressed and extended again, while a voiceover provides a steady counterweight to the tumult.
As the hit song "Azúcar amargo” (Bitter Sugar) comes on and the dance floor fills, the bittersweet nature of the film becomes apparent with the same clarity as the coughing that proceeds it.
Reviews
“As the film presents pandemic confinement as a self-healing process, Shanly exposes the traumas of his generation: one that is eager to deal with its mental health issues but is not fully equipped to do so.“ — Aldo Alvareztostado, International Cinephile Society
"Arturo a los 30 proves to be an ample showcase for Shanley’s talents." — Oliver Johnston, The Upcoming
"The film plays with a healthy humor and is seen entirely from the perspective and philosophy of the protagonist. According to him (something he does not say with words but with his attitudes) life is about not thinking too much about things and letting them flow." — Jerónimo Casco, Peliplat
Citation
Main credits
Shanly, Martin (film director)
Shanly, Martin (actor)
Godoy, Ana (screenwriter)
Bacchiani, Franco (film producer)
Dougall, Camila (actor)
Bacilio, Fernando (actor)
Abril, Javier (actor)
Other credits
Cinematography, Federico Lastra; editing, Ana Godoy; music, Maximiliano Mammarella.
Citation
Cataloging
Pragda subjects
Culture + Identity
Family
Gender + Sexuality Studies
Mental Health
South America
Youth
Keywords
Clips
Festivals
Berilnale Berlin International Film Festival; Las Palmas International Film Festival - Best Actor; Uruguay International Film Festival; BAFICI Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema - Audience Award Best Film, Best Director; Hamburg Int. Queer Film Festival; Torino Film Festival - Best Actor; Latin American Film Festival of Dallas; San Diego Latino Film Festival; Wisconsin Film Festival
DIRECTOR: Martín Shanly
NATIONALITY: Argentina
YEAR: 2023
GENRE: Drama, Comedy, Fiction
LANGUAGE: Spanish
COLOR / B&W: Color
GRADE LEVEL: High School, College, Adult
SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE
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