Amador and Marcela's Roses - DVD

Film: Actually, Marcela (Magaly Solier) was determined to leave her boyfriend Nelson (Pietro Sibille). The farewell letter is written and the suitcase already packed. But at the bus stop Marcela collapses. During the subsequent examination at the hospital, she learns that she is pregnant. Marcela knows that she cannot leave Nelson now. But the money he makes selling roses on the black market will not be enough to support a young family. Therefore, Marcela decides to earn some extra money while her pregnancy allows. As a nurse, she is supposed to take care of old Amador (Celso Bugallo). He makes it more than difficult for her at first with his closed, grumpy manner. But when the old man realizes that Marcela is pregnant and she tells him that she has never told anyone about it, an unusual friendship begins to develop between the two. But then something happens that throws Marcela's plans completely out of whack and forces her to make a decision that will have consequences for her entire future.

Amador and Marcela's Roses is a very quiet arthouse drama that tells its story with moments of quiet humor and unobtrusive poetry woven in. Access to it proves a little difficult at the outset. The staging and especially the taciturn Marcela make the action a bit unwieldy. One catches oneself wanting to shake Marcela so that she finally says something or answers the phone instead of standing rooted to the spot. But filmmaker Fernando León de Aranoa's slow-paced narrative has a definite goal, so it's well worth engaging in this not-always-easy endeavor.

The scenes in which Marcela and Amador become friends not only have a lot of charm, but also a tremendous warmth, which is also transferred to the viewer. It's not meant to give too much away at this point about how the story goes on from there. It should be said, however, that the way in which the action is propelled to its surprising and very coherent finale makes one forget the plodding pace of the beginning.

If you like European art house cinema of the particularly quiet kind, you should definitely check out this quiet ode to life. But if you don't like films of the particularly laconic kind, you run the risk of turning off the TV in complete annoyance. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: In the technical implementation of the film for the DVD, there is actually no reason to complain. While the audio is dominated by very many moments of total silence and an overall very restrained mix of dialogue and ambient noise, the clean picture is pleasing with an atmospheric colour scheme and decent overall sharpness, revealing small weaknesses here and there in the presentation of detail. Good.

Extras: In addition to a making of (approx. 12 min.), the DVD has three casting shots of Magaly Solier, Sonia Almarcha and Fanny de Castro (approx. 6 min.), as well as some scenes with direct comparison between storyboards and finished film (approx. 10 min.) to offer. There is also the trailer for the film. Unfortunately, there is hardly any really in-depth background information.

Conclusion: Amador and Marcela's Roses is a quiet arthouse drama that knows how to enchant with restrained humor and light poetry - if you can get involved in the very worn staging. The DVD presents the film in good picture and sound quality, the additional material is somewhat superficial, but well worth watching for those interested. Friends of silent arthouse fare will surely succumb to the charm of this story. For them, then, a clear recommendation can also be made for the DVD

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp