The Dark Side of the Heart

The Dark Side of the Heart
The Dark Side of the Heart
	Film poster
Directed by	Eliseo Subiela
Written by	Eliseo Subiela
Based on	Selected poems; by Oliverio Girondo; Mario Benedetti; Juan Gelman
Produced by	Suzanne Dussault; Roger Frappier; Susana Serebrenik; Fernando Sokolowicz
Starring	Darío Grandinetti; Sandra Ballesteros; Nacha Guevara
Cinematography	Hugo Colace
Edited by	Marcela Sáenz
Music by	Mário Clavel; Osvaldo Montes; Chico Novarro; Fito Páez
Release date	21 May 1992;
Running time	127 minutes
Country	Argentina
Language	Spanish

The Dark Side of the Heart (Spanish: El lado oscuro del corazón) is a 1992 Argentine surrealist romantic drama film written and directed by Eliseo Subiela.^[1] The film was selected as the Argentine entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 65th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.^[2]^[3] It is currently considered a cult film.^[4]

Plot

Oliverio (Grandinetti), a Bohemian poet, travels through Buenos Aires with his friends, harassed by Death, looking for a woman capable of “flying”. In the course of the film, the poetry of Mario Benedetti, Juan Gelman and Oliverio Girondo is seen intermingled with the thickest places of Argentine and Uruguayan artistic daily life. From the barbecue, to the battered bars of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, the main character's thought is intermittently intertwined with fiction, only to be able to better show the central character's thinking.

The story unfolds in the comings and goings of Oliverio, through his world, in which, exchanging food for poetry, or asking for coins on street corners, seeing Mario Benedetti reciting his poems in German, seeing Genetic sculptures, talking to cows, and conversing with death seem to be part of any given day in the life of a poet.

Cast

Darío Grandinetti as Oliverio
Sandra Ballesteros as Ana
Nacha Guevara as Death
André Melançon as Erik
Jean Pierre Reguerraz as Gustavo
Mónica Galán as the ex-wife
Inés Vernengo: the blind girl

Awards

Montreal World Film Festival

Grand Prix des Amériques

Biarritz Film Festival

Best Actor
Best Actress

Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival

Critic Award

Havana Film Festival

Best Actor

Argentine Academy of Cinematography Arts and Sciences Awards

Best Director
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction
Best Editing

43rd Berlin International Film Festival

Jury Award of the Readers of the Berliner Zeitung newspaper, International Forum of Young Cinema

Cartagena Film Festival

Best Director
Best Cinematography
Critics Jury Award

Cinoche International Film Festival of Baie-Comeau

Best Screenplay

Festival du film de Sept-Îles

Best Film

Silver Condor, Argentine Film Critics Association

Best Director
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction
Best Female Revelation

Bergamo Film Meeting

“Rosa Camuna” Award for Best Film

Sin Cortes Awards

Best film
Best Screenplay
Best Art Direction
Best Original Music Score
Best Female Revelation

Argentores Awards

Best Film Book

Festival de Gramado

Best Director
Best Actor
Best Original Music Score

Sequel

A sequel titled The Dark Side of the Heart 2 was released on July 5, 2001. A Spanish-Argentine co-production, it was again written and directed by Eliseo Subiela, with Darío Grandinetti and Sandra Ballesteros reprising their roles from the original film. The supporting cast includes Ariadna Gil, Manuel Bandera, Carolina Pelleritti and Nacha Guevara.

References

^ Clarke Fountain (2016). "The Dark Side of the Heart". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
^ "Foreign Oscar entries submitted". Variety. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
^ The return of ‘The dark side of the heart’, by Jordi Costa: "A film that perfectly fits the concept of cult cinema is back in theaters: nobody gave a penny for it (at the time of its release), not even its director" 09-07-2017, El País (in Spanish)

External links

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This 1990s drama film–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[NYTimes-1] Clarke Fountain (2016). "The Dark Side of the Heart". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2015.

[2] Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

[Variety-3] "Foreign Oscar entries submitted". Variety. Retrieved 20 September 2015.

[4] The return of ‘The dark side of the heart’, by Jordi Costa: "A film that perfectly fits the concept of cult cinema is back in theaters: nobody gave a penny for it (at the time of its release), not even its director" 09-07-2017, El País (in Spanish)

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