Ana and the Others

Very understated Argentinian drama in which the young woman of the title returns to her hometown of Parana, and while there discovers that a former boyfriend is working on a newspaper in the area. She decides to try and see him. That’s about it plot wise; Murga’s interest lies much more in the shifts of nuance and gentle triggers of recollection that mark sometimes much larger changes in life and its direction. There’s something of Rohmer, of Jarmusch and of fellow low-key Argentinians in this respect, but it’s a clear and welcome woman’s voice at work here. Appealing mood aside, the main frustration lies with the closing seconds, which take the film’s formal concerns into a narrative closure that is anything but, and in the process denying the audience satisfaction of the desire both they and Ana have been running on throughout.