Common Places

Lugares comunes

2002 · Argentina · 110 min

Director: Adolfo Aristarain
Screenplay: Adolfo Aristarain
Producer: Adolfo Aristarain, Gerardo Herrero
Cinematography: Porfirio Enríquez
Editing: Fernando Pardo

Awards: Silver Shell for Best Actress; Goya Award for Best Actress; Goya Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; Medal of the Circle of Cinematographic Writers for the best actress; Anexo:Fotogramas de Plata a la mejor actriz de cine; Premio Unión de Actores a la mejor actriz protagonista de cine

Cast

Mercedes Sampietro

Federico Luppi

Pepe Soriano

Arturo Puig

Carlos Santamaría

Claudio Rissi

Graciela Tenenbaum

Osvaldo Santoro

José Luis Alfonzo

Valentina Bassi

María Fiorentino

What it is about

Fernando Robles, a veteran literature professor, and his wife Liliana Rovira, a social worker in the poorer neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires, live a quiet life until the country's economic crisis forces Fernando into early retirement. Faced with their new financial situation, the couple considers changing course and moving to the countryside in Córdoba, hoping to live more frugally.

How it was made

Aristarain wrote the screenplay with Kathy Saavedra, based on the novel El renacimiento by Lorenzo F. Aristarain. Filming took place mostly in Argentina, with some scenes in Madrid. It was the seventh collaboration between the director and Federico Luppi, who leads the cast alongside Mercedes Sampietro.

Reception and legacy

Mercedes Sampietro won the Silver Shell for best actress at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, where the screenplay received the jury prize. At the 2003 Goya Awards the film won best actress and best adapted screenplay, and Sampietro was also honoured with the Fotogramas de Plata and the Medallas del Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos.