By David Amos
SAN DIEGO — If you enjoy a tender, sensitive film with an underlying strong message and a reminder of a recent tragedy, this one is for you. The 2009 Argentinean film ANITA, written and directed by the renowned filmmaker Marcos Carnevale is the story of a young woman (Played by Alejandra Manzo) with Down Syndrome in the days that followed the bombing of the Jewish Center in Buenos Aires (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, or AMIA) sixteen years ago.
We are introduced to Anita Feldman in her home, being meticulously cared for by her loving mother played by the celebrated Argentinean actress and political activist Norma Aleandro. Life is calm and routine, as they enjoy each other’s company and take care of the small family-owned store.
But, everything changed in the morning of July 18, 1994. The mother left the store for a few minutes to run an errand at the AMIA, leaving Anita alone, but never returned; she perished in the terrorist bombing of the building, where 86 others also lost their lives. Anita, slightly injured and totally disoriented from the proximity to the blast, ends up wandering the streets of Buenos Aires, relying on her very limited skills and the kindness of strangers. In less than an hour, she changed from living a life of comfort, support and love, to being homeless. She could talk to people with her minimal vocabulary, but did not know her last name or even her address.
The drama takes us through her various contacts, challenges, and unlikely benefactors, while her brother and sister-in-law were making desperate efforts to locate her, considering the possibility that she also died in the explosion and was buried in the rubble of the building.
This film, which I previewed this week, communicated to me in an unexpected way. On July 18, 1994, I was at a business convention when the news of the explosion broke out. I was told about it by a colleague, an Israeli-Chilean, who also had a child with Down Syndrome!
ANITA also served as an additional reminder to all of us about the senseless killing of people for the sake of misguided political and social statements, the Holocaust, 911, Oklahoma City, the recent Tucson massacre, and so many others.
Judaism is in the ever-present framework, but is not the fixed idea that drives the film.
There are several artistic touches which helped make this such a superb film. One of the more evident ones, for me, was the use of the old, beloved Yiddish song Oyfn Pripetchik.
(On the Hearth). Although the music was not overused, when it was sung or hummed, it became a unifying element in the drama. You have to see it to appreciate its effectiveness.
Artistry, in any discipline, can be manifested in the balanced use of contrasts, such as tension versus release, and ANITA certainly provided us with wonderful manifestations of this. There is, of course, the tenderness and sadness, and the evil of the bombing vs. the innocence of Anita.
And, there was the tremendous contrast between the modest, but elegant lifestyles of Anita and her mother, to that of Anita’s subsequent outside encounters with coarse, harsh people, struggling through their everyday lives in about as a non-refined way you can imagine. But, in spite of that, they were kind to Anita and gave her food and shelter. You can say that they were changed for the better with their contacts with Anita.
And, what I found even more artistically impacting was the juxtaposition of two totally different emotions: One of the lightest, happiest moments in the film, with levity and joy in the Asian store, was filmed simultaneously with a scary armed robbery.
We are led through sadness, tenderness, love, violence, filth, kindness, and even occasional hints of subtle humor.
But, it finally comes down to the portrayal of not only the magnitude of the larger tragedy that took place, but how it affected the life of a single individual.
A great film. Highly recommended.
It will be presented as part of the San Diego Jewish Film Festival at 6:20 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 12 at the Clairemont Reading 14 Cinemas, 4665 Clairemont Drive, San Diego, and at 6:20 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, at the San Marcos Stadium 18, 1110 West San Marcos Blvd., San Marcos.
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Amos is a freelance writer based in San Diego