Lucrecia Martel’s 2001 debut feature La Ciénaga was selected the best Argentine film of all time, based on a new poll conducted by three film magazines of the South American country. In total 546 film professionals participated in the poll among critics, directors, producers, actors, and curators. La Ciénaga received 224 votes in total.
Set in Argentina’s Northeast during a hot and humid summer, Martel’s astonishing feature brilliantly depicts the decadence of the Argentine bourgeoisie through a family story. Mecha (played by the wonderful Graciea Borges) is in her fifties and must deal with four accident-prone teenagers, a husband who dyes his hair and the tedious problem of sullen servants. Nothing that a few drinks can't cure. Tali is Mecha's cousin. She has four noisy small children and a husband who loves his house, loves his kids, and loves to hunt. Mecha and her family spend their summers at a country estate whose glory has long faded, and where the two families, reunited by an accident, will attempt to survive a summer from hell.
All of Martel’s fourth feature films made it to the list: Zama (20), The Headless Woman / La mujer sin cabeza (28), and The Holy Girl / La niña santa (37). María Luisa Bemberg is the director with most films in the list with five titles.
Filmmaker Leonardo Favio was voted with two films in the top ten: The Dependent / El Dependiente (1969) and Chronicle of a Boy Alone / Crónica de un niño solo (1965), on the number fourth and fifth places respectively. Other topfilms in the top ten list include Hugo Santiago’s Invasion / Invasión (1969), Fernando ‘Pino’ Solanas and Octavio Getino’ s landmark Third Cinema nonfiction essay The Hour of the Furnaces / La hora de los hornos (1968), Martín Rejtman’s Silvia Prieto (1999), and Fabián Bielinsky’s Nine Queens / Nueve reinas (2000).
The top ten:
La Ciénaga (Lucrecia Martel, 2001)
Invasion / Invasión (Hugo Santiago, 1969)
Time for Revenge / Tiempo de revancha (Adolfo Aristarain, 1981)
The Dependent / El Dependiente (Leonardo Favio, 1969)
Chronicle of a Boy Alone / Crónica de un niño solo (Leonardo Favio, 1965)
The Hour of the Furnaces / La hora de los hornos (Fernando ‘Pino’ Solanas and Octavio Getino, 1968)
Juan, como si nada hubiera sucedido (Carlos Echeverría, 1987)
Pizza, beer, and cigarettes / Pizza, birra, faso (Bruno Stagnaro, Israel Adrián Caetano, 1998)
Silvia Prieto (Martín Rejtman, 1999).
Nine Queens / Nueve reinas (Fabián Bielinsky, 2000)
For the complete list and detailed information visit www.encuestadecineargentino.com
