The Silly Age review (La Edad de la Peseta) - Movie Criticism by Plume Noire

The Silly Age review
:. Director: Pavel Giroud
:. Starring: Mercedes Sampietro, Ivan Carreira
:. Script: Arturo Infante
:. Running Time: 1:30
:. Year: 2007
:. Original Title: La Edad de la Peseta
:. Country: Cuba, Spain
:. Official Site: The Silly Age

Pavel Giroud's film La Edad de la Peseta (The Silly Age), is a bittersweet coming-of-age tale set in Havana in 1958 on the eve of the Cuban Revolution. 10 year old Samuel (Ivan Carreira) and his mother Alicia (Susana Tejera), on the heels of yet another break-up, end up not entirely welcome at his grandmother Violeta's (Mercedes Sampietro) well to do home in Havana. She doesn't like kids and she really doesn't like her daughter. While his mother looks for work and men, Samuel finds himself on the frustrating cusp of his teenage years as he navigates his own sexuality and a sad case of puppy love. His anachronistic relationship with his grandmother, a sometime cheesecake photographer, changes over time.

We have Gabriel García Marquez to thank for Arturo Infante's screenplay-he was motivated to finish it after taking a writing workshop helmed by one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. We see two Havana's in 1958, from the well off Violeta in a beautiful mansion and the slums where Samuel has his first sexual experiences with a young girl dying from tuberculosis and her mother who charges pennies for young boys to "watch television" at her place. Though many imagine pre-Revolutionary Havana to have a Las Vegas lawlessness to it, Alicia has a hard time finding a job because of her divorce(s).

The focus though, is on Samuel's plight. The title of the movie refers to the awkwardness of the tween years. Neither child nor adult, but more responsible than his mother, Samuel finds refuge in helping his grandmother retouch photographs while Alicia pursues yet another relationship. Samuel's deadpan delivery and his grandmother's sarcasm keep the film dialogue tight.

Beautifully shot in hyper-vibrant colors to recreate the 50's, La Edad de la Peseta, has a Sirkian quality to it which fans of the recent Spanish comedy Semen: Una Historia de Amor, will enjoy.

In an unfortunate era when a slew of American coming-of-age stories are dealing with men in their thirties and beyond finally growing up, La Edad de la Peseta proves that maturity is attainable decades before.

Anji Milanovic

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