Personally, I was so impressed by the quality of both the directing and the acting, I didn't bother to look around to check the reactions of the men in our SIFF screening audience. Written and directed by Fernando Salem with writing assistance from Esteban Garelli, we are in a remote section of Argentina where we join a young toll-booth attendant. The road where she works has been replaced, so there is very little traffic. Her co-worker works crossword puzzles while she helps. When her father dies, she gets a job selling a book called "How Most Things Work." She plans to save her money so she can go to Italy where her opera-singing mother lives.
We watch:
- VerĂ³nica Gerez is Celina, our restless heroine.
- Pilar Gamboa is Raquel, her sales training instructor.
- Rafael Spregelburd is Goldberg, her soon-deceased father.
- Vicente Esquerre is Brian, Raquel's petulant son (he wants a dog!).
Each actress does a low-key monologue that is both moving and memorable. I'm Team Venus with this one.