A Useful Life

This short, sweet, slow-tempo Uruguayan film invites us into the life of Jorge, a film programmer in downtown Montevideo played by Jorge Jellinek, a critic and cinephile in ‘real life’ – the question here being: where does cinema end and real life begin? It’s a gentle contemporary tale that will appeal to those who frequent our city’s more esoteric screening rooms, but the sparse cinemas and creaking equipment are a far cry from the BFI Southbank. Director Federico Veiroj shoots this paper-thin but tender drama in a grainy black-and-white style with endless nods to the movies that have made up Jorge’s life for so many years. When we meet him, times are changing; his job and the very existence of the cinema in which he works are under threat – prescient stuff in the month that Kodak faces possible bankrupty and New York’s Village Voice lays off Jim Hoberman, one of America’s most vital film critics.