It’s New Year’s Eve in Uruguay. Three men, alone and somewhat laconic, embark separately on a journey to a small town in the countryside. César (Marcelo Keoroglian) is divorced and is going to visit his ex-wife’s new family. But what he really wants is to share some quality time — however short — with his kid daughter. For he misses her a lot.
Then there’s Antonio (Roberto Suárez), a magician, but not the high-class kind you’d expect to find. Instead, he’s a modest artist who does have his own show, but he performs alongside other unknown artists in minor venues. His car happened to break down on the road, so until the tow truck comes he has to wait by the poll booth, where he meets Laura (Elisa Gagliano), the young and apparently aloof woman who works there.
And finally there’s Miguel (Daniel Melingo), a guitar player and singer who’s rehearsing his comeback act to take place at the same venue where Antonio has to perform. He’s the most taciturn of the three and seems to hide some grief behind his poker face. Perhaps it’s only that he doesn’t feel that confident about returning to the stage. This remains to be seen.
One more thing: there’s an unforeseen power outage an hour or so before midnight. So it’s also a moonless night for these three lonesome souls. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. Even a small world can be surprising. But that too remains to be seen.
Una noche sin luna, written and directed by Uruguayan filmmaker Germán Tejeira is the type of rare film that smoothly manages to achieve several things at once: it’s genuinely moving and a bit poignant without being corny or cheaply sentimental, it’s most simple in the best possible manner (a very hard thing to get right) and never falls into facile simplicity (often the case in films with minimalist stories), it’s respectful of its characters and yet sometimes it tenderly laughs at them, and it fully conveys the alluring melancholy and deadpan sense of humour typical of so many Uruguayans.
But above all, it looks and sounds authentic from beginning to end , because Tejeira nearly masters this type of seemingly uneventful narrative. Let alone his use of the absurd to build up circumstances and happenings that might look odd at first sight, and yet up and close they end up being everyday stuff, albeit inconspicuous. Tejeira also has a firm hand coaching actors, who blend at ease into the overall meditative tone. And while there are parts that belong to the comedy genre and others to real life drama, Una noche sin luna is not at all your average dramatic comedy.
Because it doesn’t want to be so. Because it finds a path of its own as it’s more concerned with following each individual story in its own logic regardless of genre conventions.
Not that it’s a groundbreaking auteur film, for it is not. Once again: because it doesn’t want to be one. Instead, imagine you get to spend some time, a slice of life if you will, with each of these characters that have no other real wishes than to connect with one specific Other, even if this Other is oneself, as is the case with Miguel (by the way, Melingo is also a musician in real life), gives a touching performance toward the end).
Every now and then, life gives you a second chance or perhaps a much welcome break from your tiring routine.
What Una noche sin luna does almost perfectly is capturing the beauty of these unanticipated moments that may leave way too son, and yet always leave indelible memories.
PRODUCTION NOTES
Una noche sin luna (Argentina/Uruguay, 2014) Written and directed by Germán Tejeira.With Marcel Keoroglián, Daniel Melingo, Roberto Suárez, Elisa Galiano. Music: Daniel Melingo. Produced by Raindogs / El Calefón Cine. Running time: 80 minutes.
