From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia La Antena
La Antena
La antena Plot
The movie begins with a pair of hands typing on a type-
writer. The denizens of a nameless city "in the year XX"
have lost their voices. People communicate by mouthing
out words that are spelled mid-air. The only person who
has kept the use of her voice is La Voz ("the voice"), a
singer working for the sole TV channel broadcast in the
city, run by Mr. TV, who desires La Voz. La Voz wears a
hood over her head that hides away her face. She has a
son called Tomás, an eyeless little kid who nonetheless
also has a voice (although this is kept a secret). Tomás
lives next door to Ana, whom he one day befriends after a
letter addressed to his house is erroneously delivered to
hers.
Ana’s parents are estranged - he works for Mr. TV
as a TV repairman, she is a nurse at a hospital. When
Ana loses a "balloon man" owned by the channel, her
father and grandfather are fired from the studio. Soon
enough, Ana’s father stumbles upon evidence that La Voz
Theatrical poster has been kidnapped, and, together with Mr. TV’s venge-
Directed by Esteban Sapir ful son, they set out to spy on Mr. TV. Ana’s father pays
his ex-wife to let them into the hospital, where Mr. TV
Produced by Federico Rotstein and his henchman Dr. Y (a scientist whose lower head has
Written by Esteban Sapir been replaced with a TV screen showing a mouth) subject
La Voz to a series of experiments of dubious nature. They
Starring Alejandro Urdapilleta
plan to use La Voz’s unique power to finally subdue the
Julieta Cardinali
Rafael Ferro denizens of the city. However, Dr. Y theorizes that a sec-
Valeria Bertuccelli ond voice might counter the effect of La Voz’s. Mr. TV’s
outraged son comes out of hiding, is overpowered, and
Music by Leo Sujatovich
then put away, by his father’s henchmen, whereas Ana’s
Cinematography Cristian Cottet father manages to escape with the aid of his wife.
The reconciled couple manage to rescue Ana and
Editing by Pablo Barbieri Carrera
Tomás from Mr. TV’s henchmen (led by a masked, mal-
Distributed by Pachamama Cine formed man referred to as "the Rat Man") and meet with
Release date(s) January 24, 2007 the grandfather. Since Mr. TV is going to broadcast La
(Netherlands) Voz’s voice and thus subdue all citizens, they have to
April 19, 2007 broadcast a second voice to counter the effect. The
(Argentina) grandfather suggests using an old station, The Aerial,
Running time 90 minutes abandoned in the outskirts of the city, in the snowy
mountains. Tomás, Ana and her parents don inflatable
Country Argentina suits (equal to those donned by "balloon men") which
Language Spanish send them floating up in the sky. Just as the grandfather
finishes elevating them, the Rat Man and his henchmen
La Antena (English: The Aerial 2007) is an Argentine drama
Aerial, arrive and shoot him. The family are then propelled away
film, written and directed by acclaimed film director into the mountains.
Esteban Sapir. The film features Alejandro Urdapilleta, Meanwhile, Mr. TV and Dr. Y initiate the broadcast
Rafael Ferro, Florencia Raggi, and others.[1] during a boxing match. The citizens become hypnotized
and subsequently fall asleep. Words then start oozing out
of their bodies - the machine that sucked out their voice
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia La Antena
now takes their words out of them. In The Aerial, the Rat
Man and his henchmen storm into the station, stopping
Exhibition
short Tomás’s transmission. Ana’s father and the Rat Man The film premièred at the Rotterdam Film Festival on
fight over a gun and stumble into a secret room in the January 24, 2007. It was the first time in 36 years that
station that reveals The Aerial’s director, a young girl fit- a film was chosen for both the official competition and
ted inside a glass orb that oversees the production of the opening of the Rotterdam Film Festival.
drugged food that keeps citizens under Mr. TV’s control. It was released to cinemas in the United Kingdom on
The gun goes off and kills The Aerial’s director, who 16 May 2008 by Dogwoof Pictures, with a DVD-Video re-
turns into an old woman after dying, and Ana knocks lease following on 18 August 2008.
down the Rat Man. Back at the lab, Tomás’s transmission
sends Dr. Y into a choking fit and is finished off by Mr.
TV. The transmissions counter each other and the citi-
Critical reception
zens wake up, now able to use their voice (albeit without Film critics liked the film, with one writing, "This was
being able to speak). In the end, the family comes out of the most original film that I have seen since last year’s
The Aerial, trying their new voices. Pan’s Labyrinth. What was even more amazing was that
the budget was estimated at $1.5 million, quite a bit of
money in Argentina, but not for Hollywood. It just proves
Cast that you do not need $60 million dollars to do a film, es-
• Alejandro Urdapilleta as Mr TV pecially one of quality. On a critical note, some viewers
• Rafael Ferro as The Inventor will be overwhelmed by the fast pace of the screenplay.
• Florencia Raggi as The Voice Plus, with so many metaphors, one might have difficulty
• Julieta Cardinali as Nurse keeping up with what is actually going on. The produc-
• Valeria Bertuccelli as Son of Mr TV tion crew, headed by Daniel Gimelberg, brings out Este-
• Ricardo Merkin as The Grandfather ban Sepir’s imagination in full throttle."[2]
Deleted Scenes Awards
The DVD contains a number of deleted scenes that ex- Wins
pand on the movie. Among these are featured a scene • Clarin Entertainment Awards: Clarin Award, Best
presenting the Rat Man looking at a family portrait of Film Director (Esteban Sapir); Best Original Film
anthropomorphic mice, a scene leading to Ana’s father Music, (Leo Sujatovich); 2007.
and grandfather being fired (as well as a shorter episode • Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards: Best
where the grandfather laments the dismissal), a scene Director (Esteban Sapir); Best Editing (Pablo Barbieri
depicting La Voz stripping in front of Mr. TV (followed Carrera); Best Sound (José Luis Díaz); 2008.
by her drugging and kidnapping), an altogether different • A Night of Horror International Film Festival: Best
introduction for Dr. Y (as well as a presentation of the Foreign Language Film; 2008.
transmission device) and both an alternate beginning • Fant-Asia Film Festival: Fantasia Ground-Breaker
and ending. The alternate beginning differs from the one Award (third place); 2008.
in the final cut in that it explains the existence of "bal-
loon men". The alternate ending does not contradict the
final cut ending but rather expands on it: in the ending,
References
after Mr. TV has finished Dr. Y off, La Voz frees herself [1] La antena at the Internet Movie Database.
from her bondage and realizes much to her rage that she [2] Sapir, Esteban. Cinema Without Borders, film review,
now has a face but apparently cannot talk anymore. She January 2007. Last accessed: February 18, 2008
then takes hold of a remote control and "deletes" Mr. TV.
It also shows Mr. TV’s son freeing himself from a chained
television and proceeding to write on a typewriter (the
External links
shots matching those of two hands writing on a type- • La antena
writer at the beginning of the film). • La Antena at the Internet Movie Database
• La Antena at cinenacional.com (Spanish)
• La Antena at Pachanama Cine (distributor)
Production • La Antena film review at La Nación by Diego Batlle
The movie’s script consisted of a mere 60 pages and a (Spanish)
story-board of over 3,000 shots that took 5 months to • La Antena film trailer at You Tube
draw. Principal shooting took 11 weeks and the post-pro-
duction took more than a year for completion.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia La Antena
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=La_Antena&oldid=451093125"
Categories:
• 2007 films
• Argentine films
• Fantasy films
• Independent films
• Spanish-language films
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