''Suddenly'' () is a 2002

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

and

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black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

comedy drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

directed by

Diego Lerman Diego Lerman (born March 24, 1976, in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Argentine film director, producer and screenplay writer. He works mainly in the cinema of Argentina. Directing and screenplay filmography * ''La Prueba'' (1999) * ''Tan de re ...

and written by Lerman, María Meira, and Eloisa Solaas, based on the novel ''La prueba,'' written by

César Aira César Aira (Argentine Spanish: ; born 23 February 1949 in Coronel Pringles, Buenos Aires Province) is an Argentine writer and translator, and an exponent of contemporary Argentine literature. Aira has published over a hundred short books of st ...

. The drama features Tatiana Saphir, Carla Crespo, Veronica Hassan, among others. A young, naive clerk at a lingerie store learns about love and her own identity.

Plot

The film begins as Marcia (Tatiana Saphir), a frumpy and overweight salesgirl who seems to lead a banal and dreary existence, goes to work one day. As she walks she catches the eye of a feisty butch punk woman named Mao (Carla Crespo) who tells Marcia she wants to seduce her. Marcia tells Mao that she's not a lesbian, but Mao is relentless. With the help of her friend Lenin (Veronica Hassan), Mao manages to talk Marcia into getting into a cab that the two lesbian women then immediately car-jack. They take Marcia to the coast to see the ocean—which she has never seen before—before ending up at Lenin's Aunt Blanca's ( Beatriz Thibaudin) house. Lenin has not seen Aunt Blanca for nine years, and they discover Blanca rents out rooms to two lodgers. Blanca proves fascinating to Lenin and the two begin redeveloping a connection. Lenin confesses that she has not spoken to her mother in three years. When they are alone Mao makes love to Marcia, then leaves her alone. We learn that Marcia is quite lonely since her boyfriend recently dumped her. She feels abandoned by everyone. Marcia, Mao, Lenin, and Blanca all affect each other in unexpected ways, and as a consequence, develop new relationships that each of the women had lacked in their lives.

Cast

* Tatiana Saphir as Marcia * Carla Crespo as Mao * Veronica Hassan as Lenin (real name: Veronica) * Beatriz Thibaudin as Blanca * María Merlino as Delia * Marcos Ferrante as Felipe * Ana María Martínez as Ramona * Susana Pampin as Woman in Car * Luis Herrera as Truck Driver

Critical reception

Deborah Young, the film critic at ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine, liked the film and wrote, "A delightfully unpredictable sleeper that proves new Argentine cinema really exists, ''Suddenly,'' by 26-year-old Diego Lerman, starts scary, moves through deadpan comic and comes out with a whimsical tenderness for its characters that audiences will share... he film islensed in beautifully composed black-and-white by cinematographers Luciano Zito and Diego del Piano, hefilm looks like a realistic road movie topped by irony, with a melancholy air under its bravado. Cast is right on target, with Saphir, Crespo and Hassan all playing straight in different ways, yet all ultimately quite believable." Critic

Elvis Mitchell Elvis Mitchell (born December 6, 1958) is an American film critic, host of the public radio show ''The Treatment'', and visiting lecturer at Harvard University. He has served as a film critic for the ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'', the ''LA Weekly ...

like the direction Diego Lerman gave the film and wrote, "Mr. Lerman, an Argentine, gives this story a spareness and is at his best when there is little or no dialogue...The stoic volatility of the opening 10 minutes matures into another movie altogether, one in which a tenderness develops among the threesome as they understand one another. You find yourself rooting for Mr. Lerman to pull off this maneuver. When ''Suddenly'' finds its soul in the last half-hour, the title begins to make a lovely sort of sense."Mictchell, Elvis
New York Times, film review, "Two Bad Girls Look Good To an Awkward Shopgirl," August 27, 2003. Last accessed: January 14, 2008.

Awards

Wins *

Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema The Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema (BAFICI, ) is an international festival of independent films organized each year in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. History The festival had its first edition in April 1999 and i ...

: Audience Award, Diego Lerman (tied with '' Lavoura Arcaica''); SIGNIS Award - Special Mention, Diego Lerman; Special Award, Diego Lerman; 2002. *

Havana Film Festival The Havana Film Festival is a Cuban festival that focuses on the promotion of Latin American filmmakers. It is also known in Spanish as ''Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana,'' and in English as International Festiv ...

: Best Actress—Tatiana Saphir, Carla Crespo, Veronica Hassan, Beatriz Thibaudin, María Merlino (to the female acting ensemble); Grand Coral - First Prize, Diego Lerman (tied with '' Cidade de Deus''); Special Mention, Lita Stantic (producer), also for ''

Un Oso rojo ''Un oso rojo'' ("Red Bear" or "A Red Bear") is a 2002 Argentine, Spanish, and French neo-Western action drama film directed by Israel Adrián Caetano. The film was produced by Lita Stantic, and the screenplay was written by Caetano and Graciela ...

''; 2002. * Huelva Latin American Film Festival,

Huelva, Spain Huelva ( , , ) is a municipality of Spain and the capital of the province of Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits between the estuaries of the Odiel and Tinto rivers on the ...

: Best New Director, Diego Lerman; Silver Colon, Best Screenplay (''Mejor Guión Original''), Diego Lerman and María Meira; 2002. *

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

: Don Quixote Award, Diego Lerman; Silver Leopard, Lita Stantic (producer) and Diego Lerman (director/producer); Special Mention, Carla Crespo, Veronica Hassan, Tatiana Saphir, Marcos Ferrante, María Merlino, Beatriz Thibaudin (to the acting ensemble, unanimously); 2002. *

Viennale The Vienna International Film Festival, or Viennale, is a film festival taking place every October since 1960 in Vienna, Austria. The average number of visitors is about 75,000. Traditional cinema venues are ''Gartenbaukino'', ''Urania'', ''Met ...

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FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...

Prize, Diego Lerman (for a plot-twisting riot-girls road movie announcing the strength of an Argentine New-New-Wave); 2002. * Clarin Entertainment Awards: Clarin Award, Best First Work - Film (''Cine: Mejor Ópera Prima''); 2003. *

Istanbul International Film Festival The Istanbul Film Festival () is the first and oldest international film festival in Turkey, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. It is held every year in April in movie theaters in Istanbul, Turkey. As mentioned in its reg ...

: Golden Tulip, Diego Lerman; 2003. * Milan International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival,

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

: Best Film, Diego Lerman; 2003. * Molodist International Film Festival,

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

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: Sunny Rabbit Prize, Diego Lerman; 2003. * New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival: No Limits Award, Diego Lerman; 2003. *

Argentine Film Critics Association Awards The Argentine Film Critics Association () is an organization of Argentine-based journalists and correspondents. The association presents the ''Silver Condor Awards'' (''Premios Cóndor de Plata'') honoring achievements in Argentine cinema. The aw ...

: Silver Condor, Best Supporting Actress (''Mejor Actriz de Reparto''), Beatriz Thibaudin; 2004. * Glitter Awards: Glitter Award, Best Lesbian Feature; 2004. Nominations * Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema: Best Film, Diego Lerman; 2002. * Locarno International Film Festival: Golden Leopard, Diego Lerman; 2002. * Molodist International Film Festival: Best Film Award, Best Full-Length Fiction Film, Diego Lerman; 2003. * Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor, Best First Film (''Mejor Ópera Prima''), Diego Lerman; Best New Actress (''Mejor Revelación Femenina''), Carla Crespo; Best Screenplay, Adapted (''Mejor Guión Adaptado''), Diego Lerman and María Meira; 2004.

References

External links

''Tan de repente''
official web site *
''Tan de repente''
at the

cinenacional.com Cinenacional.com is a web portal and web-based database about Argentine cinema. It is the most comprehensive site for information about the Argentine film industry, with a vast array of information on films, television programs, directors, actor ...

''Tan de repente''
film review at ''Cineismo'' by Josefina Sartora * {{YouTube, mRQ0Q4X9PWk, ''Tan de repente'' film trailer 2002 films 2002 comedy-drama films Argentine LGBTQ-related films Argentine black-and-white films Dutch black-and-white films Argentine independent films Lesbian-related films 2000s Spanish-language films Dutch independent films Dutch LGBTQ-related films 2000s Argentine films 2002 LGBTQ-related films LGBTQ-related comedy-drama films