MOVIE REVIEW

A young Buenos Aires writer battles despair and illness as he finds liberation and his place in the world.

By Kevin Thomas, Special to The Times

At the beginning of Anahi Berneri's beautiful and subtle "A Year Without Love," a slim, dark-eyed young Buenos Aires poet, Pablo Pérez (Juan Minujín), confronted with eroding health in the wake of his HIV-positive status and a lousy love life, decides to keep a diary, realizing that he is embarking upon an especially challenging phase of his life. Pérez is a real person and collaborated with Berneri on the script. "A Year Without Love" is only Berneri's third feature yet is an elegant, economical work.

Pablo's situation is scarcely enviable. He supports himself giving private French lessons and some translations, but it's not enough to make ends meet. He receives some help from his father (Ricardo Merkin) and uneasily shares an apartment with his aunt (Mimí Ardú), an attractive but aimless woman in her 40s.

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There's affection between them but also friction. It seems pretty clear the aunt has given up on life, whereas Pablo is revving up to tackle it head on.

He's nothing if not persistent; the year is 1996 and he resists starting a course of drugs until he finds a doctor who won't treat him like a guinea pig. He frequents gay discos, takes out ads in the personals but has no luck meeting a suitable partner until he meets a suave, kindly older man, Báez (Osmar Núñez), which results in sexual fulfillment of an unexpected nature. Berneri handles these sequences with skill and judgment: Dreamlike and discreet, the episodes convincingly convey their significance to Pablo without being exploitative or gratuitous.

What emerges gradually as Pablo goes about dealing with daily life is ultimately how resilient he is. "A Year Without Love" celebrates such resilience, and its reward for Pablo enables him to strive to liberate himself — from loneliness, sickness and dependency — but not without moments of pain, despair and loss.

The openness of Minujín's understated, expressive portrayal lies at the core of an equally impressive film — beautifully but unpretentiously shot and scored with spot-on supporting performances.

Pablo's experience may be specifically gay, but it's easy to imagine that anyone trying to find his or her way in the world might identify with this young Argentine.


"A Year Without Love"

MPAA rating: Unrated

A Strand release. Director Anahi Berneri. Producers Diego Dubcovsky, Daniel Burman, Maximiliano Pelosi. Screenplay by Pablo Pérez, Berneri. Director of photography Lucio Bonelli. Editor Alex Zito. In Spanish, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.

At the Laemmle's Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood (323) 848-3500; and Laemmle's One Colorado, 42 Miller Alley, Pasadena (626) 744-1224.