Product Details

• Actors: Antonio Larreta
• Directors: Carlos SorĂ­n
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: Spanish
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Film Movement
• DVD Release Date: August 4, 2009
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0025YTB5O
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,438 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Window" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Review

As elegant in its storytelling as in its story, Carlos Sorin's The Window is a tale of age and mortality that firmly resists the cute tag reflexively assigned to movies with old people, and mines a rich, deep vein of melancholy and humor. Sorin has constructed a reflective poem, one that's never solemn, always insightful and sometimes hilarious. --Variety

Product Description

It is a significant day for 80 year old Antonio. After an absence of many years, his estranged son is coming to visit. All must be perfect. There will be a toast with very special champagne; an embrace; warm words that may finally bridge the gap between them... but before, Antonio must wait. Bedridden, he looks out his window at the Patagonian landscape and sees light and life, the past and the present, while sensing the future. He decides to secretly leave the house, unseen by his faithful caretakers, to take what might be a last walk in his fields, breathing the air, treading the earth, inhaling the scent of the land that had been his life. What could otherwise seem like insignificant memories or moments in one s life, take a special, beautiful meaning and weight in this poetic, humanistic film.

Distinguished Argentine filmmaker Carlos Sorín (Bombón, El Perro, Historias Minimas) once again trains his camera on the small stories written by life, on the humanity behind human beings. By casting the great Uruguayan writer and scriptwriter Antonio Larreta in the lead role, Sorin establishes a link between fiction and reality that makes the protagonist s fears, hopes and wishes even more palpable.

WINNER FIPRESCI Prize - Valladolid Intl Film Festival
NOMINATED Golden Spike - Valladolid Intl Film Festival
OFFICIAL SELECTION Toronto Intl Film Festival, Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, Rome Cinema Film Festival, Cairo Intl Film Festival, Havana Intl Film Festival, Göteborg Intl Film Festival

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent South American minimalism, June 19, 2009

By 

Steve Kuehl "SLV Video" (Boulder Creek, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Window (DVD)

I was waiting for there to be a solid film like this showing the subtle ends to a distinguished life. A minimalist film all the way, right down to there being little to no dialogue for ten minutes at a time. The background sounds relayed some of the scenes eloquently, including the constant piano tuning, nature sounds, a grandfather clock and more.

We get to watch a heart attack survivor live out his recovery time at a beautiful country estate (filmed in the Patagonia region I believe). His restless wit is offset by the overbearing nursing staff, ambiguous family and beautiful solitude. Well filmed and very reminiscent of how I see things for me when those days arrive.

As usual for Film Movement, the DVD includes an excellent and relevant short film about similar emotions, some great previews and other company related materials. Subtle, yet beautiful, hope you enjoy it.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and Hopeful Story Explores the Spiritual Gifts of Aging, August 22, 2009

By 

David Crumm "Editor of ReadTheSpirit magazine" (Canton, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Window (DVD)

"The Window" proves the universal appeal of well-made movies. Carlos Sorín's story is set in Patagonia, yet the rolling ranch on which the aging patriarch lives could be a setting out of a Western in the American Plains. As Antonio, the patriarch, prepares for the return of his beloved son, this could be a character envisioned by Hemingway or Faulkner or John Ford.

What turns this into great cinema is that Sorín paints his story with his camera. There's a 10-minute segment in which the old man, who has been bedridden for a long time, suddenly feels such inspiration that he decides to walk through his gardens and fields once again. It's an almost wordless sequence, yet you won't move a muscle as it unfolds.

Watch how tantalizing memories and stories emerge as the big house is cleaned for the son's visit. And, toward the end of the film, watch how the father's vision paints scenes in the house--and how the son's vision paints similar scenes.

While the film may sound simple and the story may sound somber, you'll find a whole lot to discuss after it ends-exploring how the scenes from various perspectives merge and separate spiritually. "The Window" elevates the whole reflection on aging to a different, deeper level-pointing toward gifts within this universal journey.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Window, February 15, 2010

By 

William T. Sublette (Southern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Window (DVD)

This movie would be painfully slow for most US audiences. To me, it was a minute study of the uneventful.