Don't judge a book by its cover: the title might suggest some wholesome children's drama, but Argentinean indie The Magic Gloves is actually a concise comedy of modern urban life. Gabriel Fernández Capello plays hapless Buenos Aires taxi driver Alejandro, who bumps into the musician brother Piranha (Fabián Arenillas) of an old school friend. Soon he's moved into the flat of a porn actor, is dating an air stewardess (Valeria Bertuccelli), and is handing over his meagre savings to a dubious investment scheme, involving the importation of one-size-fits-all gloves from China.
Struggling to cope with the repercussions of Argentina's recent national economic crisis, the characters in The Magic Gloves prove to be endearingly obsessive, as they pursue improbable business opportunities and sign up for faddish health treatments. They go to yoga classes, mix and match the latest types of anti-depressants, and fly to Brazil to be treated at spa clinics. One of the film's recurring gags is that we frequently watch Alejandro drive his friends to and from the city's airport, yet we are never shown anything of their trips abroad. The talk about going abroad seems more important than the actual experience.
"REJTMAN HAS A GOOD EYE FOR VISUAL HUMOUR"
Rejtman has a good eye for visual humour - see the way the imposingly tall blue movie actors (described as "Canadians who are not from Canada") tower over their hosts, or how Alejandro is forced to listen at close distance to Piranha's deafeningly discordant CD. The filmmaker refuses to glamorise Buenos Aires, presenting us with a grey and functional city whose traditional tourist sights can barely be glimpsed from a car window.
Capello provides an engaging, deadpan performance, quietly acceding to his increasingly convoluted living and working arrangements, and finding solace in his own gentle style of disco-dancing. His battered Renault 12 estate can be seen as a metaphor for Argentina itself: run-down and having seen better days, yet still cherished and surprisingly resilient.
In Spanish with English subtitles.
The Magic Gloves (2004)
