Historias mínimas (English: Minimal Stories; released internationally as Intimate Stories) is a 2002 Argentinedrama film directed by Carlos Sorín and written by Pablo Solarz. The film was produced by Martin Bardi, Leticia Cristi, and José María Morales. It features, among others, Javier Lombardo, Antonio Benedicti and Javiera Bravo.[1]
This road movie chronicles three individual yet intertwined stories of ordinary people striving to follow their dreams in life. The picture unfolds in the southern Argentine region of Patagonia, and it was filmed in the Santa Cruz Province, Patagonia. The film captures many small details that make a realistic and moving depiction of life in southern Argentina.
Synopsis
The story follows three different persons travelling the Argentine Patagonia. The first is Don Justo, an elderly man who hands over the running of his grocery store to his overbearing son and daughter-in-law and escapes to search for his lost dog, named Badface. The second, Roberto, is a love-struck obsessive-compulsivetraveling salesman who drives to San Julián, to surprise one of his clients by bringing a cake for her child's birthday. Finally, María Flores is a lower class woman who travels to San Julián with her daughter because she has won a spot on "Multicoloured Casino", a fusty TV game show.
Tom Dawson, film critic for the BBC wrote, "Patagonian landscapes with the modesty of his characters' aspirations, Sorín has crafted an appealing portrait of this remote region, where television provides the inhabitants with their main link to the wider world. Convincingly acted by the mainly non-professional cast, Historias mínimas is further proof of the diversity and strength of contemporary Argentine cinema."[2]
Ed Gonzales, a critic for Slant Magazine, liked Carlos Sorín's directorial work, and the film reminded him of some well-regarded American directors: "It's the film's crisscrossing narrative and sense of community that brings to mind Altman'sShort Cuts, but the pursuit of enlightenment and the poetic texture of Sorín's images similarly evokes Lynch'sThe Straight Story. Quiet and unpretentious, the film's humanism isn't confrontational exactly but it's intense nonetheless."[3]
Havana Film Festival: Grand Coral – Second Prize (Carlos Sorín); Martin Luther King Memorial Center Award (Carlos Sorín); 2002.
Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor for best director (Carlos Sorín); Best Film; Best Music (Nicolás Sorín); Best Male (Antonio Benedicti); Best Original Script (Pablo Solarz); Best Artistic Direction (Margarita Jusid); Best Cinematography (Hugo Colace); and Best Sound (Carlos Abbate and José Luis Díaz); 2003.
Goya Awards: Best foreign Spanish language film; 2004.
Nominations
San Sebastián International Film Festival: Golden Seashell, Carlos Sorín; 2002.
Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor, Best Editing, Mohamed Rajid; Best New Actress, Javiera Bravo; Best New Actress, Julia Solomonoff; Best Supporting Actor, Javier Lombardo; 2003.
Cartagena Film Festival: Golden India Catalina, Best Film, Carlos Sorín; 2003.
Ariel Awards, Mexico: Silver Ariel, Best Latin-American Film, Carlos Sorín, Argentina; 2004.
