Giant (2009) User Reviews

Lonely Obsession

[Kashmirgrey · 8/10 · 24 September 2009]

Set in Montevideo, Uruguay, Gigante carefully unravels the story of Jara, a heavy metal-loving, lionhearted security guard who works the graveyard shift at a grocery store. As he fights the boredom and monotony of a job monitoring the store via surveillance cameras, he begins to fall for a janitor named Julia. Too shy to approach her, Jara dotes over her from afar following her to and fro around town. When he begins to gain the courage to make contact, competition rolls in.

I knew nothing about Gigante when I began to watch it other than what the short plot summary on IMDb.com describes. The tempo of the film is a bit slower, but steady and the unknowing of what lies around each corner snagged me in and held my attention through-out. It was easy to relate to Jara, a very likable character, and the agony of his obsession for Julia and one cannot help but develop a fondness for her as Jara becomes more and more familiar with her.

Gigante isn't for everyone, but if you have ever become enamored with someone, but lacked the self confidence to act on it, I think you will appreciate this film.

The gentle stalker

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 30 May 2011]

Jara is a stocky security guard at a suburban Montevideo supermarket. He works the midnight shift attending the cameras that monitor the cleaning crews, as well as the employees that work the late hours. It is a boring job. He keeps busy working the puzzles from the many books he collects, and listening to the heavy metal bands he loves, even wearing tee shirts with their names on them. One day he spots one of the cleaning women backing into a tower of toilet paper. Her supervisor is not amused, but Jara pulls a trick by getting the man to come to the phone on a fictitious call.

Little by little, Jara keeps watching the woman from the monitor, and on the street. He begins a vigil that eventually reveals where she lives. Eventually, he learns her name is Julia. He even goes to a pizzeria where Julia is on a date with a man as heavy as Jara. After dinner, instead of stalking Julia, he goes after the man. Jara is instrumental in getting rid of three punks that are trying to get the money from the man. The grateful guy has a drink with Jara, confessing he had a bad time with the young woman because of her weird taste in music.

Jara gets suspended because in his obsession, he went to look for Julia in the basement, where he thought she might have been having sex with a fellow employee, setting off the sprinkler system on purpose. When he returns to work, Jara finds out Julia and four others were fired. Jara has a fit and goes looking for the woman at her home. She is out at the beach spot where he had seen her in one of his walks. Jara does not know what to do, but plucking his courage, he approaches Julia. To his amazement, she has a smile on her face, as though she had been expecting Jara all the time.

"Gigante" is a delicious comedy from Uruguay. Written and directed by Adrian Biniez, it surprises because it is not pretentious. The ordinary lives of two lonely souls are examined with a light touch that endears the viewer to what is playing on the screen. Jara is voyeur, but not the sexual kind. Julia is a lonely person without anyone to share her life. Looking for possibilities through internet dating brings her closer to Jara without even planning to.

The film depends on Horacio Camandule's performance. His Jara is a character study on a man that has a lot to give, yet, because of his bulk, he is shy to go after any woman. His only alternative is to stalk Julia and hope one day she will look in his direction. Mr. Camandule has expressive blue eyes that light up when watching Julia. Leonor Svarcas, who plays Julia has no dialog, but she makes an impression in the way she carries herself.

This is a small film that needs an appreciative audience it deserves.

An authentic modern love story

[victor-marlier · 7/10 · 22 May 2014]

With few images and a strong impression of calm the director depicts how love can actually arise from a very simple relation. The simplicity of the characters is actually what make this relationship so beautiful. The shyness of the principle character is greatly interpreted and does match really well with the social context of Montevideo presented as a very quiet city. The movie relies mostly on the suspense regarding the expectation from the principle character on his love that he only sees through the glass of a modern and inhuman computer.

The movie depict really well the social context of Uruguay: it's a wonderful immersion in the city of Montevideo and a great opportunity to discover a wonderful country which cinema appears to be both pretty rare and developing a great artistic quality.

Fantastic indie film feel

[Zoooma · 7/10 · 22 July 2014]

A film from Uruguay about a stalker who is a gentle giant yet one tough mean hombre who just wants to love his fellow grocery store worker. But she doesn't really know he exists. Who doesn't know that story, right?! So he follows her. Yes, in America this is stalking and could get you hauled in for questioning by the police and possibly a restraining order. But in Montevideo in this movie it's sweet. We get a great performance from our lead actor, even if it's just through his actions that we get to feel him. It's not so much a dark and disturbing stalking story as it is a love story but far from the sappy romancey crap girls wanna drag you to the theater to pay twenty bucks to see. This has a fantastic indie film feel and how often do you get to see what Montevideo looks like?!

6.8 / 10 stars

--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

masterpiece of low-scale artistic cinema

[manicman84 · 9/10 · 21 March 2010]

Coming from Uruguay Gigante is a masterpiece of low-scale artistic cinema. How this slight story about a metal-loving night security guard stalking the girl of his dreams turned out to be my favorite romantic movie of 2009 lies within its refreshing approach artfully implemented with a dead-pan precision and confidence. Gigante's director Adrien Binez uses the voyeuristic tone of the movie not to oppress viewers, but to enchant them. The movie happens to be sweet when we watch Jara, a large, quiet soul following Julia, an accident-prone cleaner wherever she goes and whatever she does. It abounds with numerous wonderfully observed scenes that abandon the dialogue almost entirely. My favorite scene involves visiting the cinema where Jara has difficulty deciding which movie has been chosen by his love-interest, a love story or a horror movie about a mutant. Guess which one it was. As regards acting, Horacio Camandule provides a sharp and totally likable performance, while Leonor Svarcas is convincing even though her part is limited. Overall, Gigante may be too slow-paced for some, but for me it happens to be an endlessly engrossing miracle of a movie. 9/10 (A-)

"All The Lonely People...Where Do They All Come From?"

[druid333-2 · 10/10 · 11 February 2010]

Jara is a gentle giant (hence the film's title)of a man,with an equally big heart,who loves heavy metal music,loves hanging out with pretty much himself,and has two jobs. One is working the night shift as a security guard at a supermarket,during the store's closing hours, with only fellow security guards & the cleaning staff (the other is a bouncer at a local bar). Jara is quite taken by Julia,a pretty,young cleaning woman,who although somewhat of a klutz,seems to tread the same path as Jara (both are pretty much loners,'tho Julia does get around during the day,while Jara is content to just stay home & sleep,or play video games with one of his nephews). Jara is determined to get to know Julia better,to the extent of following her around,acting as some kind of bodyguard (at times,it seems that Jara could be stalking Julia). Does Jara finally meet his heart's true love? That's for you to find out.Horacio Camandulle is Jara,a quiet & somewhat introverted man that adores Julia (played by Leonor Svarcas),another quiet,withdrawn soul,and wants to know her better. Adrian Biniez writes,directs & composes the film's original music score (Biniez,in addition to being the film's director,is also a musician). The film's pacing will probably be a bit too slow for most American's who are used to fast paced Hollywood films (Jim Jarmusch & Finland's Aki Kurismakki is a major influence here). Spoken in Spanish with English subtitles. Not rated by the MPAA,this film contains some outbursts of strong language & some comic book violence

Excellent performances in a calm, but intense story

[showdown · 9/10 · 25 April 2013]

The movie is about a huge, introverted, good-hearted young man named Jara, whose main job is night-guard at a big supermarket in Montevideo, Uruguay. On his lonesome and monotone night-shifts in the surveillance room staring at the monitors one night his attention is aroused by Julia, a young cleaning-woman, and bit by bit he falls in love with her. Unfortunately he is too timid to speak to her, so he just watches and even follows her at daytime (like some kind of guardian angel). What then underlies till the end of the movie is the crucial question: Will he be courageous enough to eventually speak to her and reveal his feelings? I found this movie refreshing, slow paced, realistic and romantic. I could very easily identify myself with Jara, because I also have problems to tell women who attract me my feelings. In my opinion the ending was satisfying, too. I recommend this movie to everyone who likes true, profound, subtle love stories about lonesome and timid people.

A relief from noise.....

[PickwickSays · 8/10 · 2 October 2016]

Jara is a quiet, self-contained security guard who falls in love...kind of a dating road movie...with wonderful shots and scenes of local grocery stores, cafes, bars, beaches. I've no idea why this touching and funny movie received such a low rating. Gigant is very much in the tradition of "Gregory's Girl" perhaps even an homage to the celebrated Scottish flick with maybe a little bit of "In the Mood for Love". I found this movie a welcome respite from the fast-paced, loud films that seem to dominate theatres and TV these days. A film of everyday people with characters who look like average people - sans porcelain veneers, nose jobs, Botox, and liposuction - in the same way one sees in Brit flicks where the lead actors are not necessarily either gorgeous or at the least adorably cute.