Stunning! One of the most visually fascinating films. It's almost like Georges Méliès took a time machine to the 70's, dropped acid, stole a Stanley Kubrick script, and channeled Spielberg, Burton, and Wes Anderson into this dream like un-reality.
The cinematography and editing are mastered in the perfect sense of cinema, paying great homage to filmmakers of the 20's and 30's.
The production design, costumes, and the use of the dialogue subtitles are extremely creative and visually relevant to the story, and the practical effects complete the surreal dream world.
But what really holds this movie together, like a comforting blanket during a weird dream, is the score. Complementing every shot, action, emotion, and visual cue.
Visual storytelling at its finest!
17 Reviews
La Antena
TheFluffyKnight21 September 2008
Some would argue that Argentinean director Esteban Sapir's La Antena is an exercise in anachronistic futility; that, while the silent films to which Sapir's pays homage were at the cutting edge of cinema when they were made, they are outdated today, leaving La Antena a meaningless oddity.
I would disagree. Fervently. La Antena melds the conventions of the silent film with 21st century technology, making it the ultimate exercise in post-modern film-making.
The film is set in the timeless "The City Without a Voice", so called because the citizens have been rendered speechless by Mr. TV, a dictator/media mogul with his hair painted on. The City resembles the titular one in Fritz Lang's seminal Metropolis (1927), perhaps 100 years before that film. It is all expressionist skyscrapers, TV aerials, and animated billboards.
The citizens of the City are mollified by La Voz (The Voice), the only person with the gift of speech. Her face perpetually shrouded by a hood (kept on even when she is naked), La Voz is forced to sing on Mr. TV's television network. But when Mr. TV concocts a plan to steal the written word as well, La Voz and her eyeless son join forces with a renegade family in an attempt to return the freedom of speech to the people.
La Antena is nothing but pure cinema. Burdening himself with the conventions of the silent film, Sapir has to rely upon images to tell his story. There is sound, most notably in the almost continuous score by Leo Sujatovich. It evokes the best of silent movie music, as well as ingenuously working itself into the film's diegesis, such as the beeping of car horns, or the rhythmic ra-ta-tat-tat of gunfire. And, underlying the whole film is a familiar whirring, as if it were being shown on an ancient projector.
There is a fair amount of dialogue as well. But instead of using intertitles, Sapir has the characters' words appear in the frame. They are larger or smaller, filling the screen or hovering meekly in the air, depending on what is being said. Think a more imaginative version of the subtitles in Night Watch (2004).
Thankfully, the words don't distract from the images. Which is very fortunate indeed, because La Antena boasts some of the most creative and original images we've seen in a long time, all captured by Cristian Cottet's sumptuous black-and-white photography. There are the expressionist cityscapes. The hooded singer and her eyeless son. There is the city's abandoned aerial, which looks like the decayed remains of some colossal spider. And there's the sinister Dr. Y, whose jabbering mouth is displayed on a television screen attached to his face.
La Antena has been criticised for relying too much on its imagery, while skimping on the allegorical depth. But, again, I would disagree. It is true that the sudden appearance of a mind-control machine shaped like a swastika, or the eyeless boy seemingly crucified on a Star of David, feels out of place, a tad over the top in what is otherwise merely a well-crafted fairy tale.
But the lack of overt symbols (the two previous examples aside) works in the film's favour. It allows us to make up our own minds: to decide whether to infer political meaning, to see La Antena as an allegory for fascism, the danger of capitalist monopolies, and the power and responsibility of the media; or to just take the film at face value, as a visually stunning adventure through a world simultaneously unique and familiar.
The sacrifice of explicit depth in favour of unique imagery may seem like a compromise. But, really, when a film looks as good as this, it's hard to care. There is more imagination and artistry in every frame of La Antena than Hollywood can shake a derivative stick at. Evoking films almost 100 years old might be futile, but in doing so, Sapir may be showing us what is lacking in the films of today. He may be telling us that it is time for another artistic revolution. And he may be right.
I would disagree. Fervently. La Antena melds the conventions of the silent film with 21st century technology, making it the ultimate exercise in post-modern film-making.
The film is set in the timeless "The City Without a Voice", so called because the citizens have been rendered speechless by Mr. TV, a dictator/media mogul with his hair painted on. The City resembles the titular one in Fritz Lang's seminal Metropolis (1927), perhaps 100 years before that film. It is all expressionist skyscrapers, TV aerials, and animated billboards.
The citizens of the City are mollified by La Voz (The Voice), the only person with the gift of speech. Her face perpetually shrouded by a hood (kept on even when she is naked), La Voz is forced to sing on Mr. TV's television network. But when Mr. TV concocts a plan to steal the written word as well, La Voz and her eyeless son join forces with a renegade family in an attempt to return the freedom of speech to the people.
La Antena is nothing but pure cinema. Burdening himself with the conventions of the silent film, Sapir has to rely upon images to tell his story. There is sound, most notably in the almost continuous score by Leo Sujatovich. It evokes the best of silent movie music, as well as ingenuously working itself into the film's diegesis, such as the beeping of car horns, or the rhythmic ra-ta-tat-tat of gunfire. And, underlying the whole film is a familiar whirring, as if it were being shown on an ancient projector.
There is a fair amount of dialogue as well. But instead of using intertitles, Sapir has the characters' words appear in the frame. They are larger or smaller, filling the screen or hovering meekly in the air, depending on what is being said. Think a more imaginative version of the subtitles in Night Watch (2004).
Thankfully, the words don't distract from the images. Which is very fortunate indeed, because La Antena boasts some of the most creative and original images we've seen in a long time, all captured by Cristian Cottet's sumptuous black-and-white photography. There are the expressionist cityscapes. The hooded singer and her eyeless son. There is the city's abandoned aerial, which looks like the decayed remains of some colossal spider. And there's the sinister Dr. Y, whose jabbering mouth is displayed on a television screen attached to his face.
La Antena has been criticised for relying too much on its imagery, while skimping on the allegorical depth. But, again, I would disagree. It is true that the sudden appearance of a mind-control machine shaped like a swastika, or the eyeless boy seemingly crucified on a Star of David, feels out of place, a tad over the top in what is otherwise merely a well-crafted fairy tale.
But the lack of overt symbols (the two previous examples aside) works in the film's favour. It allows us to make up our own minds: to decide whether to infer political meaning, to see La Antena as an allegory for fascism, the danger of capitalist monopolies, and the power and responsibility of the media; or to just take the film at face value, as a visually stunning adventure through a world simultaneously unique and familiar.
The sacrifice of explicit depth in favour of unique imagery may seem like a compromise. But, really, when a film looks as good as this, it's hard to care. There is more imagination and artistry in every frame of La Antena than Hollywood can shake a derivative stick at. Evoking films almost 100 years old might be futile, but in doing so, Sapir may be showing us what is lacking in the films of today. He may be telling us that it is time for another artistic revolution. And he may be right.
A reinvention of the silent movie and a powerful cautionary tale
Robert_Woodward23 July 2008
La Antena, an audacious film by Argentine director Esteban Sapir, succeeds both as a reinvention of the silent movie genre and a gripping cautionary tale. The setting is a city in thrall to mindless television, its people deprived of the power of speech except for a solitary and mysterious screen presence known simply as The Voice. In a bid to cement their grip on power the marvellously villainous duo of television mogul Mr. TV and mad scientist Dr. Y set out to kidnap The Voice and turn her unique talent towards their own dastardly ends. It is up to a young family and The Voice's nameless, eyeless son to stop this evil scheme. The result is a roller coaster of a story that is bewildering on occasion but never less than engrossing.
This is a silent movie that wears many of its influences on its sleeve; the overt references to silent movie greats such as George Melies and Fritz Lang will be readily apparent to anyone with a passing familiarity of their work. But more subtle references and symbolism lie behind such tributes. I particularly like the fact that Mr. TV and his henchman drive around in typical 1930s gangster cars, drawn from the decade when the silent movie era died away and a very different industry began to emerge.
La Antena mines the clichéd plot devices and theatrical over-acting common to so many silent films, albeit in a very knowing and humorous way. It is the astonishing visual style of La Antena that really sets it apart from the movies that it pays homage to. From the hypnotic TV logo to the menacing hilltop transmission station, this film abounds with dazzling visual inventiveness that is the rival of a Studio Ghibli animation and all this using real actors and handmade sets.
Moreover, though the style is often intentionally corny and theatrical, this is still an unsettling, provocative and emotional picture. The use of religious symbolism throughout La Antena lends added resonance to the struggle between the TV Empire and the waning power of words. At the same time, many of the most powerful images are original ones, including the hypnotic swirl of the television sets and the nightmarish TV food factory.
I hate to end this review on a sour note, but I feel that the English-language release of La Antena is let down by the subtitles. The original Spanish subtitles are used to great effect, with much playing around with words on screen. However, the English-language subtitles that accompany the original dialogue are frustratingly incomplete, with omissions and mistakes at times leaving the viewer to piece things together for themselves. La Antena is nevertheless a striking piece of cinema; a visually breathtaking experience that displays great energy and humour whilst narrating a powerful cautionary tale.
This is a silent movie that wears many of its influences on its sleeve; the overt references to silent movie greats such as George Melies and Fritz Lang will be readily apparent to anyone with a passing familiarity of their work. But more subtle references and symbolism lie behind such tributes. I particularly like the fact that Mr. TV and his henchman drive around in typical 1930s gangster cars, drawn from the decade when the silent movie era died away and a very different industry began to emerge.
La Antena mines the clichéd plot devices and theatrical over-acting common to so many silent films, albeit in a very knowing and humorous way. It is the astonishing visual style of La Antena that really sets it apart from the movies that it pays homage to. From the hypnotic TV logo to the menacing hilltop transmission station, this film abounds with dazzling visual inventiveness that is the rival of a Studio Ghibli animation and all this using real actors and handmade sets.
Moreover, though the style is often intentionally corny and theatrical, this is still an unsettling, provocative and emotional picture. The use of religious symbolism throughout La Antena lends added resonance to the struggle between the TV Empire and the waning power of words. At the same time, many of the most powerful images are original ones, including the hypnotic swirl of the television sets and the nightmarish TV food factory.
I hate to end this review on a sour note, but I feel that the English-language release of La Antena is let down by the subtitles. The original Spanish subtitles are used to great effect, with much playing around with words on screen. However, the English-language subtitles that accompany the original dialogue are frustratingly incomplete, with omissions and mistakes at times leaving the viewer to piece things together for themselves. La Antena is nevertheless a striking piece of cinema; a visually breathtaking experience that displays great energy and humour whilst narrating a powerful cautionary tale.
Exceptional ode to silent cinema.
Camera-Obscura4 February 2007
LA ANTENA (Esteban Sapir - Argentina 2005).
A completely unique take on silent cinema in this fairy-tale like story by Esteban Sapir, beautifully shot in black-and-white and practically without dialog, "La Antena" is a feast for the eye and a must for lovers of German expressionist cinema, with most of the nods to the works of Fritz Lang and Friedrich Murnau.
'The City without a Voice', 'La Ciudad sin Voz', is ruled by Mr. TV. He has taken the inhabitants voices and is in total control of all spoken words and images, forcing everyone to eat his own brand of TV-food. Mr TV is not just a monopolist, he is the personification of evil and totalitarianism, even the swastika appears as a symbol a number of times. He secretly works on a hypnotizing device to control all the citizens minds through his television broadcasts. For this purpose, he kidnaps the only one left with The Voice, a beautiful singer, but a TV repairman witnesses the kidnapping and flees to an old TV antenna in the mountains in order to halt Mr. TV's evil plans.
The production design is stunning with beautiful sets and imagery. Although shot primarily with the basic language of silent cinema, Esteban Sapir also adds a number of fresh techniques of his own, like a combination of typographic and animation techniques. Everyone talks with each other through text balloons (usually floating near their mouths), the louder they talk, the larger the characters. The texts themselves can be pushed away or crushed. In the opening sequence, we see a book, titled "La Antena", that opens and a city of paper rises from the pages. There are hardly any references to Argentina. It's constantly snowing, which gives the film a very un-Argeninian feel, while the surreal setting suggests any large city in the Northen hemisphere, with only some of the songs revealing the film's Argentinian background.
The pace is swift and there is so much happening on screen, it's hard to keep track of the film's surreal narrative. Not only breathtakingly beautiful to look at, we're also given a few messages about media monopolies, corruption and totalitarianism, but they are breezily packaged. One of the most original films I've seen in years. A delight.
The film was shown as the opening film at the IFF Rotterdam 2007.
Camera Obscura --- 9/10
A completely unique take on silent cinema in this fairy-tale like story by Esteban Sapir, beautifully shot in black-and-white and practically without dialog, "La Antena" is a feast for the eye and a must for lovers of German expressionist cinema, with most of the nods to the works of Fritz Lang and Friedrich Murnau.
'The City without a Voice', 'La Ciudad sin Voz', is ruled by Mr. TV. He has taken the inhabitants voices and is in total control of all spoken words and images, forcing everyone to eat his own brand of TV-food. Mr TV is not just a monopolist, he is the personification of evil and totalitarianism, even the swastika appears as a symbol a number of times. He secretly works on a hypnotizing device to control all the citizens minds through his television broadcasts. For this purpose, he kidnaps the only one left with The Voice, a beautiful singer, but a TV repairman witnesses the kidnapping and flees to an old TV antenna in the mountains in order to halt Mr. TV's evil plans.
The production design is stunning with beautiful sets and imagery. Although shot primarily with the basic language of silent cinema, Esteban Sapir also adds a number of fresh techniques of his own, like a combination of typographic and animation techniques. Everyone talks with each other through text balloons (usually floating near their mouths), the louder they talk, the larger the characters. The texts themselves can be pushed away or crushed. In the opening sequence, we see a book, titled "La Antena", that opens and a city of paper rises from the pages. There are hardly any references to Argentina. It's constantly snowing, which gives the film a very un-Argeninian feel, while the surreal setting suggests any large city in the Northen hemisphere, with only some of the songs revealing the film's Argentinian background.
The pace is swift and there is so much happening on screen, it's hard to keep track of the film's surreal narrative. Not only breathtakingly beautiful to look at, we're also given a few messages about media monopolies, corruption and totalitarianism, but they are breezily packaged. One of the most original films I've seen in years. A delight.
The film was shown as the opening film at the IFF Rotterdam 2007.
Camera Obscura --- 9/10
Allegory on Muteness
blosmelinda7 June 2007
I've seen this movie twice on Transilvania International Film Festival(TIFF), the movie is in competition and I really hope that Esteban Sapir will get one of the awards (at least the best image award).
As a silent cinema fan I'm interested in contemporary movies that quote or recreate the language of the yester-year cinema. The previous reviewer emphasized the quotes from Fritz Lang and Fr. W. Murnau. As I see it, the movie references directly Lang's Metropolis, and the allegorical-parabolic character of his plots. But I didn't see Murnau in it. There's a more obvious Melies-homage though: the Moon with a (here cigar-smoking) human face, and the paper-made, painted mountains and city-landscapes. I enjoyed the film mostly for its visuals, and in the meantime I found very interesting the story on muteness, and the creative means of communication used by the inhabitants of the voiceless city. From this perspective this movie is an unique reflexion on the muteness of the silent cinema, because in the films of the silent period one can hardly find stories with mute characters. In this case can be questioned whether the story on the stolen voices was the motivation for the silent film form, or there's an intention to play upon the muteness of the silent films. Another example of this kind of reflexion I found in Guy Maddin's Careful,where the inhabitants of a mountain-village have restrictions in using their voices. I intend to write a paper on it, if you know movies related to this topic, please let me know!!!
I highly recommend Esteban Sapir's film to every moviegoer (one of the critics called it: the jewel of the festival).
PS: Winners were announced, and the film won the award for best cinematography!
As a silent cinema fan I'm interested in contemporary movies that quote or recreate the language of the yester-year cinema. The previous reviewer emphasized the quotes from Fritz Lang and Fr. W. Murnau. As I see it, the movie references directly Lang's Metropolis, and the allegorical-parabolic character of his plots. But I didn't see Murnau in it. There's a more obvious Melies-homage though: the Moon with a (here cigar-smoking) human face, and the paper-made, painted mountains and city-landscapes. I enjoyed the film mostly for its visuals, and in the meantime I found very interesting the story on muteness, and the creative means of communication used by the inhabitants of the voiceless city. From this perspective this movie is an unique reflexion on the muteness of the silent cinema, because in the films of the silent period one can hardly find stories with mute characters. In this case can be questioned whether the story on the stolen voices was the motivation for the silent film form, or there's an intention to play upon the muteness of the silent films. Another example of this kind of reflexion I found in Guy Maddin's Careful,where the inhabitants of a mountain-village have restrictions in using their voices. I intend to write a paper on it, if you know movies related to this topic, please let me know!!!
I highly recommend Esteban Sapir's film to every moviegoer (one of the critics called it: the jewel of the festival).
PS: Winners were announced, and the film won the award for best cinematography!
La Antena: A Film for Cinephiles
imagiking5 February 2011
Having recorded this film from the television as many as four months ago, it'd been waiting in my to-watch pile for an achingly long time. Something about its premise put me off from watching it for so long; foolish considering that no premise could accurately sell La Antena.
In a big city of voiceless denizens in a time unspecified, television has a unique control over the masses, the soothing singing of the uniquely gifted "La Voz" (The Voice) fascinating them. The be-hooded singer does so under the employ of the evil Señor TV in order to earn eyes for her blind son, who—through a mistaken address—befriends Anna, the daughter of a recently dismissed television technician.
The summary I have just composed is both entirely accurate and completely irrelevant. Such is the nature of La Antena, a film which immediately announces itself as rather more than just a narrative—wild, wacky, and wholly original though that narrative may be. Firstly, the film is aesthetically stunning: composed in a beautiful monochrome; effulgently photographed; and composed of a miasma of fantastic effects which hearken back to cinema's earliest days. The references to the cinema of days gone by are many and frequent, in both the visuals, the lighting, the camera angles, and of course a replication of the moon itself from Méliès' Le Voyage dans la Lune. The film is completely packed with tips of the hat to German Expressionism, Film Noir, and—I'm reliably informed, having yet to see it myself—Lang's Metropolis. It is undoubtedly a film for cinephiles, the throwbacks to the silent era a delight to witness, and mixed expertly with the aforementioned early techniques. Double exposures are commonplace, used to delightful effect, especially toward the end of the film. What is modern and innovative about the film, however, is its abandonment of the classic silent film inter-title in favour of words given physical, interactive form on-screen. The words mouthed by the silent characters appear before them, echoing an earlier statement along the lines of "we still have our words". These objects are manipulatable, lending the film an odd but undeniably unique quality which furthers its memorability. As a (largely) silent film, it relies heavily upon its soundtrack, which does a solid job, often mixing with the actions on-screen in a slightly comical way. The bizarre arrangement of characters adds to the humour which runs throughout the film, a largely situational humour engendered through the oddity of this world and those occupying it. Large parts of the narrative are, unsurprisingly, unfathomable, the film much more about allegory than it is storyline. Save for two particularly detractive and diminutive pieces of symbolism in the film's final act, it functions as an inquisitive social commentary, gently criticising the manipulation of the masses by the mainstream media, and suggesting that perhaps we need a saviour of sorts from the brainless garbage which attempts to control us—a role it jokingly suggests it might itself fulfil.
Bookended by particularly wonderful sequences of a typewriter's words translating to music, La Antena is quite, quite unlike anything else you are ever likely to see. Originality is this film's forté; reference and fond recreation its cornerstone. Though its message is perhaps a little too gentle to be of any significant effect, it is the kind of film that ought to be enjoyed by all who love cinema.
In a big city of voiceless denizens in a time unspecified, television has a unique control over the masses, the soothing singing of the uniquely gifted "La Voz" (The Voice) fascinating them. The be-hooded singer does so under the employ of the evil Señor TV in order to earn eyes for her blind son, who—through a mistaken address—befriends Anna, the daughter of a recently dismissed television technician.
The summary I have just composed is both entirely accurate and completely irrelevant. Such is the nature of La Antena, a film which immediately announces itself as rather more than just a narrative—wild, wacky, and wholly original though that narrative may be. Firstly, the film is aesthetically stunning: composed in a beautiful monochrome; effulgently photographed; and composed of a miasma of fantastic effects which hearken back to cinema's earliest days. The references to the cinema of days gone by are many and frequent, in both the visuals, the lighting, the camera angles, and of course a replication of the moon itself from Méliès' Le Voyage dans la Lune. The film is completely packed with tips of the hat to German Expressionism, Film Noir, and—I'm reliably informed, having yet to see it myself—Lang's Metropolis. It is undoubtedly a film for cinephiles, the throwbacks to the silent era a delight to witness, and mixed expertly with the aforementioned early techniques. Double exposures are commonplace, used to delightful effect, especially toward the end of the film. What is modern and innovative about the film, however, is its abandonment of the classic silent film inter-title in favour of words given physical, interactive form on-screen. The words mouthed by the silent characters appear before them, echoing an earlier statement along the lines of "we still have our words". These objects are manipulatable, lending the film an odd but undeniably unique quality which furthers its memorability. As a (largely) silent film, it relies heavily upon its soundtrack, which does a solid job, often mixing with the actions on-screen in a slightly comical way. The bizarre arrangement of characters adds to the humour which runs throughout the film, a largely situational humour engendered through the oddity of this world and those occupying it. Large parts of the narrative are, unsurprisingly, unfathomable, the film much more about allegory than it is storyline. Save for two particularly detractive and diminutive pieces of symbolism in the film's final act, it functions as an inquisitive social commentary, gently criticising the manipulation of the masses by the mainstream media, and suggesting that perhaps we need a saviour of sorts from the brainless garbage which attempts to control us—a role it jokingly suggests it might itself fulfil.
Bookended by particularly wonderful sequences of a typewriter's words translating to music, La Antena is quite, quite unlike anything else you are ever likely to see. Originality is this film's forté; reference and fond recreation its cornerstone. Though its message is perhaps a little too gentle to be of any significant effect, it is the kind of film that ought to be enjoyed by all who love cinema.
One of the Most Creative Dystopian Fairy Tales
max4movie24 May 2018
La Antena is a beautifully crafted fairy tale that plays with the technical limitations of yesteryear's movies and uses this idea for telling the story of oppressed people, who are robbed of their speech. The strong symbolism, the rich scenes and the believable characters make a lasting impression on the viewer and make for memorable scenes, even though the plot isn't the strongest aspect of the movie.
Overall 7/10 Full review on movie-discourse.blogspot.de
Overall 7/10 Full review on movie-discourse.blogspot.de
Wonderful Film!
VintageSoul5612 June 2018
As with 2012's "The Artist" and 2012's Spanish film "Blancanieves", I am enjoying watching silent films. This black and white, silent film from Argentina is a gem. It has the 1930's German filmmaking down to a dot. It's nice to watch a film with no dialog and let the film itself carry the story. I never cared for the 1920's silent because I didn't feel that the story was fully recognized. But, with these newer films, the story is recognized much better than before. If you want something different and surreal, try this.
Fascism versus Judaism, or God versus Satan?
Waerdnotte8 July 2008
This is a beautiful film to look at. Surreal and kitsch, its many homages were maybe a little too obvious - yes, Lang, Melies, even Chaplin. This allegory on Argentinian and German fascism initially buried the real story beneath its look - that of a complex animated commercial. However, as the film progressed, it soon become obvious to me the symbolism of the scars on the family's hands (stigmata), the blind boy who could talk and would save the city / world (Jesus Christ), the boy's single mother (Mary), the young girl (Mary Magdalene), and ultimately the boy on the Star of David, reflected a world in which religion / Judaism / Jesus Christ, vanquished the evils of fascism / Satan.
So maybe a little heavy on the symbolism and allegory, ideas of religion saving the world or prophets dying to save us from our sins are all a little lazy. As many directors have shown, revealing religion for the corrupt and superstitious organisations they really are, can make a much more satisfactory cinema experience; see Bunuel / Fellini / Bergman.
So maybe a little heavy on the symbolism and allegory, ideas of religion saving the world or prophets dying to save us from our sins are all a little lazy. As many directors have shown, revealing religion for the corrupt and superstitious organisations they really are, can make a much more satisfactory cinema experience; see Bunuel / Fellini / Bergman.
Quiet and good looking
kosmasp8 October 2007
The summary line is some men's wet dream for the ideal woman ... ;o) Seriously though, back to the movie, which has classic cinema written all over it (pun intended and quite literally shown in the picture, too as you'll see)!
How could someone make a silent movie in this year and age? It's not completely silent for once (take the music for instance). With great cinematography is the answer. And it's no wonder that it did win prizes (as another user stated) in this area! But it's also sometimes it's downfall. Although the pictures are great, it sometimes delves too much in them instead of moving forward (plot and time wise). If you can cope with that, than you'll enjoy it even more than me. I haven't told you anything about the story, but I'll never do that, because I don't want to spoiler anything for you ...
How could someone make a silent movie in this year and age? It's not completely silent for once (take the music for instance). With great cinematography is the answer. And it's no wonder that it did win prizes (as another user stated) in this area! But it's also sometimes it's downfall. Although the pictures are great, it sometimes delves too much in them instead of moving forward (plot and time wise). If you can cope with that, than you'll enjoy it even more than me. I haven't told you anything about the story, but I'll never do that, because I don't want to spoiler anything for you ...
very good, indeed
dragokin17 April 2014
This is another movie i've discovered accidentally, if i remember right in festival dedicated to animated film. In any case, La Antena is a powerful feature film.
The citizens of an unnamed city lose their voices. The only inhabitant spared is The Voice (La Voz). And as the story progresses the protagonists are fighting to get the voices back.
Explaining the plot would probably be misleading, but there is a small detail that put me off, although it might simply be a personal preference. At a certain point, one the main characters wears a soviet army hat. In order to avoid the confusion, the authors make it a hat with a red star. This, among other things, should symbolize the protagonist's fight against injustice, epitomized in today's political terms as leftist struggle.
I understand that Latin American history of the 20th century offers numerous examples of right and left dictatorships and might as well influence your opinion. However, i had the impression that wearing that particular hat meant that if you're not leftist you're not on the right side...
However, this impression and complaint may simply be my misinterpretations. La Antena is otherwise a good movie.
The citizens of an unnamed city lose their voices. The only inhabitant spared is The Voice (La Voz). And as the story progresses the protagonists are fighting to get the voices back.
Explaining the plot would probably be misleading, but there is a small detail that put me off, although it might simply be a personal preference. At a certain point, one the main characters wears a soviet army hat. In order to avoid the confusion, the authors make it a hat with a red star. This, among other things, should symbolize the protagonist's fight against injustice, epitomized in today's political terms as leftist struggle.
I understand that Latin American history of the 20th century offers numerous examples of right and left dictatorships and might as well influence your opinion. However, i had the impression that wearing that particular hat meant that if you're not leftist you're not on the right side...
However, this impression and complaint may simply be my misinterpretations. La Antena is otherwise a good movie.
A perfect homage to early silent noir Films.
bne98229 July 2007
I didn't see such a movie where the creators put so much heart's blood into their work and paid attention to the finest details for a very long time.
Everything was well thought and perfectly put into reality. Camera-work, editing and compositing worked so good together it was just amazing. The titles were so fun and so perfectly choreographed.
This movie just blew me away.
The "Showdown" could have been cut down by 10 or 15 minutes though.
It's a near to perfect homage to early silent noir Films story, acting, scenery and costumes were perfectly fitting and believable to have com from the times of silent film-making.
Everything was well thought and perfectly put into reality. Camera-work, editing and compositing worked so good together it was just amazing. The titles were so fun and so perfectly choreographed.
This movie just blew me away.
The "Showdown" could have been cut down by 10 or 15 minutes though.
It's a near to perfect homage to early silent noir Films story, acting, scenery and costumes were perfectly fitting and believable to have com from the times of silent film-making.
expressionist allegory
delta_vega10 November 2007
For those who appreciate the intersection of silent cinema and social commentary, this is a unique film. Part homage to German expressionism, part allegory, the film is replete with visual symbolism and an artistic style that rivals anything seen since the 1920's. Moreover, the attention to period detail and the visual composition of the scenes as an instrument for advancing the story is stunning. Aside from this, the plot offers an interesting commentary on the role of the media in society and its effect on social voice, perception, and opinion. In truth, it's not so much the silence that permeates the film as it is the loss of voice and the loss of words to communicate and express thought that inevitably follows. In sum, this film is something not often seen and, as the producer of the film said in the Q&A that followed, will leave you thinking about its meaning well into the next day.
Authorship and the film La Antena- Part 1
rafiqfuadyarahmadi20 May 2015
Authorship and the film La Antena
By: Rafiqfuad Yarahmadi
Authorship in cinema
The key directors of the French New Wave Jean Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, Eric Rohmer had been a filmed critic writing for the French cinema magazine Cahiers du Cinema. This was the first film journal to treat cinema as an art form and to discuss it in an academic way. In the early 1950s this group of critics developed an argument through a long series of articles, which became known as 'la politique des auteurs'. Taken up by American critics in the 1960s these ideas became known as the auteur theory or authorship theory.
In their writings the critics argued that film was primarily a visual medium rather a literary one and that the director was the author of a film in the same way as a writer is the author of a novel. In one influential essay 'La Camera Stylo' (1954), Alexander Astruc argued that the film director 'writes' a film with the camera as if he was an artist with a paintbrush. Rather than film language being used for the adaptation of a script, it should be the visual language, which is most important. Therefore the director is the true author of a film because the visual language is the language of cinema; the script is literary, a different language entirely.
Authorship in film is a subject of debate in theory of film since the Cahiers du Cinema critics in 1950s for the first time birthed author theory. They believed that films should reflect a director's personal vision. Some directors such as Akira Kurosawa and Alfred Hitchcock are famous for been authors of their movies. 'This doesn't mean that the directors is an expert at every job or dictates every thing. The director can represent tasks to trusted members of crew, and directors often work usually with certain actors, cinematographers, screenwriters, and editors'. (Film Art page 33)
According to Francois Truffaut in an article that he published in Cahiers du Cinema in 1954, 'an expression of his own personality' an auteur converts the movie into something personal. The main version of French authorship theory was the impression of making a film different to the director by introducing ideas of his own into the characters and the story beyond what the story needed.
According to Film History by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson the idea of authorship engaged with the growing art film in 1950s and 1960s. The prestigious directors of the period started to write their own scripts, all followed distinctive themes and stylistic choices in film after film. Film festivals managed to honour the director as a main creator. Tati, Michelangelo Antonioni, and others become 'brand' names in a commercial context.
In 1960s and 1970s, auteurism helped in creation of film studies. Film viewers made the idea of authorship a commonplace in the film culture. Most of film fans used term of auteurism as a kind of taste not just for film-art directors but they used also for Steven Spielberg, Brian De Palma and Oliver Stone who were Hollywood filmmakers.
Something that we have to consider is that feature movies never been made by one person. A big crew such as producer, cinematographer, director, editor, and lots of ideas and days of hard work go into collaborating on a film production. We should know that only theory of authorship would not answer the questions for all movies. As we know the process of filmmaking, film often supports with a more collaborative style of authorship than other artistic media. Even there are some movies that been recognised for their writing or directing style but the true authorship lies in the intentionality of the collective that produced the final product. La Antena
La antenna is a thriller movie directed by director/writer Estabin Sapir, stars of this movie are Vleria Bertuccelli, Alejandro Urdapilleta and Julieta Cardinali. This monochrome film was made in Argentina which the mostly is silent. I can clearly say that the theme of film is about media mind control. This film has got a comic vision and reminds me the Georges Melies's A Trip to the Moon, and the strange city in the film is remind me the film Metropolis by Fritz Lang.
A dictator called Mr TV, in a timeless city has made all the citizens of the city speechless. The city is looks like the Fritz Lang's Metropolis and it is so similar to Expressionist movies with animated billboards, TV aerials and towers.
The Voice, the only citizen who can speak, calms people who live in this city. We can't see her face and a hood masks her face. The Voice is forced to have a singing programme on Mr TV, s television. The only food that people in this city can get to eat is Mr TV.'s brand food. This behaviour remind us the dictatorship and totalitarianism in those countries that people hasn't have freedom of speech and the film shows swastika symbol several times. He is working on a device and wants to hypnotize his people to be able to control citizens and this is really similar factory scene in Modern Times movie by Charles Chaplin that the factory manager tries to control all workers by using CCTV.
Bibliography:
Continue => Part 2
By: Rafiqfuad Yarahmadi
Authorship in cinema
The key directors of the French New Wave Jean Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, Eric Rohmer had been a filmed critic writing for the French cinema magazine Cahiers du Cinema. This was the first film journal to treat cinema as an art form and to discuss it in an academic way. In the early 1950s this group of critics developed an argument through a long series of articles, which became known as 'la politique des auteurs'. Taken up by American critics in the 1960s these ideas became known as the auteur theory or authorship theory.
In their writings the critics argued that film was primarily a visual medium rather a literary one and that the director was the author of a film in the same way as a writer is the author of a novel. In one influential essay 'La Camera Stylo' (1954), Alexander Astruc argued that the film director 'writes' a film with the camera as if he was an artist with a paintbrush. Rather than film language being used for the adaptation of a script, it should be the visual language, which is most important. Therefore the director is the true author of a film because the visual language is the language of cinema; the script is literary, a different language entirely.
Authorship in film is a subject of debate in theory of film since the Cahiers du Cinema critics in 1950s for the first time birthed author theory. They believed that films should reflect a director's personal vision. Some directors such as Akira Kurosawa and Alfred Hitchcock are famous for been authors of their movies. 'This doesn't mean that the directors is an expert at every job or dictates every thing. The director can represent tasks to trusted members of crew, and directors often work usually with certain actors, cinematographers, screenwriters, and editors'. (Film Art page 33)
According to Francois Truffaut in an article that he published in Cahiers du Cinema in 1954, 'an expression of his own personality' an auteur converts the movie into something personal. The main version of French authorship theory was the impression of making a film different to the director by introducing ideas of his own into the characters and the story beyond what the story needed.
According to Film History by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson the idea of authorship engaged with the growing art film in 1950s and 1960s. The prestigious directors of the period started to write their own scripts, all followed distinctive themes and stylistic choices in film after film. Film festivals managed to honour the director as a main creator. Tati, Michelangelo Antonioni, and others become 'brand' names in a commercial context.
In 1960s and 1970s, auteurism helped in creation of film studies. Film viewers made the idea of authorship a commonplace in the film culture. Most of film fans used term of auteurism as a kind of taste not just for film-art directors but they used also for Steven Spielberg, Brian De Palma and Oliver Stone who were Hollywood filmmakers.
Something that we have to consider is that feature movies never been made by one person. A big crew such as producer, cinematographer, director, editor, and lots of ideas and days of hard work go into collaborating on a film production. We should know that only theory of authorship would not answer the questions for all movies. As we know the process of filmmaking, film often supports with a more collaborative style of authorship than other artistic media. Even there are some movies that been recognised for their writing or directing style but the true authorship lies in the intentionality of the collective that produced the final product. La Antena
La antenna is a thriller movie directed by director/writer Estabin Sapir, stars of this movie are Vleria Bertuccelli, Alejandro Urdapilleta and Julieta Cardinali. This monochrome film was made in Argentina which the mostly is silent. I can clearly say that the theme of film is about media mind control. This film has got a comic vision and reminds me the Georges Melies's A Trip to the Moon, and the strange city in the film is remind me the film Metropolis by Fritz Lang.
A dictator called Mr TV, in a timeless city has made all the citizens of the city speechless. The city is looks like the Fritz Lang's Metropolis and it is so similar to Expressionist movies with animated billboards, TV aerials and towers.
The Voice, the only citizen who can speak, calms people who live in this city. We can't see her face and a hood masks her face. The Voice is forced to have a singing programme on Mr TV, s television. The only food that people in this city can get to eat is Mr TV.'s brand food. This behaviour remind us the dictatorship and totalitarianism in those countries that people hasn't have freedom of speech and the film shows swastika symbol several times. He is working on a device and wants to hypnotize his people to be able to control citizens and this is really similar factory scene in Modern Times movie by Charles Chaplin that the factory manager tries to control all workers by using CCTV.
Bibliography:
Continue => Part 2
An artistic original
paul2001sw-110 July 2010
'La Antena' has been likened to the films of Tim Burton; but while I can see a certain resemblance, Burton has never, in my opinion, directed a film as weird (or oddly, as deeply coherent) as this one. To say this is almost a silent film, almost an animated film, and almost a children's film, is to be stating obvious banalities for anyone who's seen it without getting close to what makes it so good. To observe that it is in a certain sense objectively bad, using cod-antique techniques, gets closer to the point; as times I felt as if I was watching a hybrid of a film by Guy Maddin and the 'Clangers'. But whereas Maddin can feel a little too self-conscious, the strange style of the telling of 'La Antena' feels completely of a piece with the strange world being portrayed, as if the narrative form comes naturally from the tale. However ,I will say that it's an odd film to watch with foreign language subtitles; you'll just have to watch to learn why.
Perfect...
RosanaBotafogo7 March 2021
A fierce criticism of the telecommunications systems and the blindness caused by the monopoly, the blind belief and the current spread of fake news, the perfect analogies, like the hope deposited in the children, the programming coming from the female sexual organ, the spirits "words" disappearing from their bodies, and nothing more satirical than talking about the power of the media voice than silent cinema, in white and black, an Argentine production so beautiful, representative and scathing...
As I had never heard of this film, underestimated to the cube ... Wonderful analogy with the staunch capitalism, the monopoly, and the power of the few over all, full of meanings and symbolisms, a bold and intelligent, passionate criticism ... The use of the swastika in the scene of the singer "voice" in chains says a lot about the whole film, perfect...
Release on DVD in US?
bradner320 January 2008
This movie is great. I had a chance to see it at the Chicago Film Festival - by accident really. I was going to see an Austrailian film, but the file was pulled from the festival moments before I got to the box office. The ticket person suggested this movie stating that it was selling a lot of tickets.
Does anyone know if and when this will be released on DVD in the States? I have found it on Amazon Germany - but I do not have a way to play the region 2 DVD.
I have also emailed the distributor several times.
Any suggestions you can provide will be helpful.
Does anyone know if and when this will be released on DVD in the States? I have found it on Amazon Germany - but I do not have a way to play the region 2 DVD.
I have also emailed the distributor several times.
Any suggestions you can provide will be helpful.
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