Gigante Adrián Biniez

His name is Jara - actually, that’s his last name - but you probably won’t pick that up from the dialogues. Everyone calls him ’Gordo’. He is indeed fat (’gordo’), big (’gigante’) and above all quite noble, despite what his physical appearance, clothes, tough job, and taste in music might tell to some biased observer. He enjoys observing people on his little screen, working at night as a security guard in a supermarket. That’s how little we know about him, and that much is enough. She is Julia, a slim and delicate girl, with a particular beauty. She works as a cleaner in the same supermarket, also at night. Despite appearences, she prefers zombie films over chick flicks, is a fan of heavy metal bands, and dates guys she meets on the internet. The ones who fancy her in the real world are too shy to approach her.

"A supermarket is like a prison, sort of claustrophobic, specially for an employee working night shifts. Nothing escapes the camera, it’s a world inside bars", has said the director of the film, Adrián Biniez. Julia is inside of Jara’s cage, but it’s a pretty inoffensive prison. Jara can’t find the courage to approach her, so he stalks her, watching her every move thanks to the multiple security cameras he controls. He records and watches the tape over and over at home, and even goes as far as following her on the street.

Will Julia like him? Will Jara scare her on his first, awkward, and unique approach? These are the questions fueling this story from the very beginning until the last scene. We are, like Jara, voyeurs enjoying the every move of this (apparently at first) unlikely match. Adrián Biniez allows us to notice in detail the characters and their surroundings. Horacio Camandule, the actor playing Jara, manages to bring just the right dose of toughness and tenderness to his character, making him accesible and likeable to the audience, including those expecting a typical guy-chases-girl story.

Lacking in dialogues, the images speak out loud in Gigante. They tells us, for instance, what Jara is thinking when he tries to decide which movie Julia has chosen to watch at the theatre. Two posters, two directions. This simple ’movie choice’ help us to understand his doubts, then later what he happily learns about her, a person that might enjoy his company.

Now, don’t get the wrong impression from the opening credits in big red letters and loud rock music: this is not a Lisando Alonso hard-to-stay-awake film, or a Haneke not-so-funny game. Think of a much more naive, less pathetic Kaurismaki story (by the way, is there something in Uruguay’s water supply that is also present in Finland’s?) This Argentinean-born director also drinks from the influences of the Montevideo’ duet Rebella-Stoll (remember Whisky? Biniez was the keyboard player in the karaoke scene. Hilarious).

Regardless of a side story that could had been of better use - the relation of Jara with her bossy sister and lazy nephew - Gigante is one little story that rapidly became one of my favorites films from Latin America this year. And Jara will be one of those memorable characters, along with Rulo from Mundo Grua, Oso from Un oso rojo and Freddy from Bolivia.

Laslo Rojas