Argentinean director Matias Piñeiro has made a specialty of creating casually plotted, dialogue-heavy features that adapt Shakespeare to the modern era—after a fashion (albeit not in the pop-Hollywood obvious manner of 10 Things I Hate About You or William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet). Commonly a Folio play serves as a plot device: here it's a new Spanish-language translation of A Midsummer Night's Dream that becomes a project for Buenos Aries theater director Camila (Agustina Muñoz). Going to New York for an artist's residency, she finds herself both homesick and torn between suitors, one being an American filmmaker who ardently courts her with a DIY found-footage collage. However, Camila bolts to Montana for an impromptu meeting with her late mother's old lover (portrayed by filmmaker and critic Dan Sallitt), an adventure that may reveal deep family secrets. This is not necessarily a linear, chronological storyline, and that adds to the freeform quality of the film, but it also sometimes borders on aimlessness. A strong optional purchase. (C. Cassady)
Hermia & Helena
Kino Lorber, 87 min., in English & Spanish w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $29.99, Blu-ray: $34.99 Volume 33, Issue 1
Hermia & Helena
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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