MARTIN (HACHE) By Harvey Karten, Ph.D. Sogepaq International Director: Adolfo Aristarain Writer: Adolfo Aristarain Cast: Federico Luppi, Juan Diego Botto, Eusebio Poncela, Cecilia Roth Family dysfunction, drug abuse, suicide and other pathologies are alive and well and living in Argentina...and Spain, at least in the circles traveled by Martin (Federico Luppi), a successful film director in Adolfo Aristarain's new film. "Martin (Hache)," which had a screening at the 1997 New York Film Festival, is a rather long work about a father who is estranged or distant not only from his 19-year-old son but from his best friend, wife, and lover as well. In giving another example of how money does not buy happiness or even contentment for many who possess it, director Aristarain has assembled a small cast with uneven acting skills, or at any rate, one which is so dominated by the superior talent of Mr. Luppi that the supporting performers have little to do but overact or, in one case, come across as a near-zombie. The unusual title is actually the designation given to the teenager who, like his dad, is named Martin (Juan Diego Botto) officially, but Hache (Jay) for short. He lives in the Argentine capital with his mother, but the air he breathes is not Bueno. His mother wants him out. His father lives thousands of miles away in Madrid and has little contact with him. His 16-year-old girl friend who insists that she loves him very much dumps him. No wonder he is found in a coma, near death from combining whiskey with "dog" (a canine tranquilizer), and considered a victim of attempted suicide. Hearing the news, his dad has the decency to fly to Buenos Aires where his estranged wife makes clear that she wants the kid out of the house. He takes the lad back to his fairly lavish home in Madrid where Hache meets a homosexual drug-taking actor Dante (Eusebio Poncela) and his dad's much younger lover Alicia (Cecilia Roth). Almost needless to say, the kid does some growing up around such hip characters and like Catherine Sloper in Henry James' novel "Washington Square," he emerges a stronger individual--his own person. "Martin (Hache) is so talky it makes Eric Rohmer's "Claire's Knee" look like "Con Air." Considering that the audience sits through over two hours of neurotic and borderline psychotic behavior, it's a bit much to ask the paying guests to put up with a stream of yada yada yada, particularly when blended with Cecilia Roth's, cocaine-induced hyper performance and Eusebio Poncela's almost campy, pretentious palaver about the meaning of life. As Martin Senior, Mr. Luppi gives new meaning to Greta Garbo's signature quote, "I vant to be alone." Verbally abusing his lovely and loving druggie girl friend by insisting, in effect, that he prefers solitude to her company, he drives her to a tragic end. He alienates his best friend, Dante, to such a degree that Dante can scarcely believe the behind-the-scenes support given him by his director pal, who has been asked to make a big-budget movie without the acting services of Dante. Martin does have redeeming features, particularly the attention he know gives to his suicidal son, who truthfully confesses that he loves to be with his father. But then again who wouldn't if he is taken to Madrid's best restaurant, introduced to some of the world's finest wine, and even administered to seductively by the passionate Alicia? More attention should have been paid to the exterior scenery. Madrid is a lovely city and Buenos Aires probably has its glories, but cameraman Porfirio Enriquez is restricted largely to indoor photography as though "Martin (Hache)" were a staged play. The most amusing scene shows Dante performing in a show before an engrossed audience, suddenly cutting out of character to show his utter contempt for the congregation who, he advises, must feel good about themselves for applauding a left-wing play but who then go home and change nothing about their lives. The folks in "Martin (Hache)," by contrast, do make changes in their own lives during the course of the movie, but except for one case, that of the teen, the metamorphosis is too late. Not Rated. Running Time: 134 minutes. (C) 1997 Harvey Karten
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