Directors: María Alchés and Benjamin Naishtat
Artists: Marcelo Subiotto, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Julieta Zylberberg, Mara Bestelli
Year: 2023
Premiere: March 27, 2024
★★★★
If philosophizing is preparing for death – so they say – then this makes sense.Point’ It begins with the death of the head of the Department of Political Philosophy at the University of Buenos Aires. After this comes the rivalry between the two teachers at the centre: one is passionate and intelligent but incompetent and a bit outdated; the other is pedantic and seductive but also clever – its location and, more specifically, One individual’s existential crisis perhaps mirrors that of all of Argentina.
Thinking of that man, the first film directed by María Alchés and Benjamín Naishtat as a duo It looks intense yet light at the same time, and as intellectual as it is casual.. He proceeds by making chain references to Heidegger, Heraclitus, Rousseau, Hobbes and Spinoza and uses philosophical principles as the basis of his narrative structure; He also deftly uses different genres of comedy (slapstick, con, costuming, eschatology) to suggest reflections on the loss of ideals, the importance of public education, and the consequences of neoliberalism.
His plot adventure culminates in another form of death: Corporate collapse is painfully close to reality imposed by Javier MileiBut that doesn’t stop him from coming to an optimistic conclusion, justifying the dignity of defeat and the beautiful effects of activism on society and the human spirit.