Sidewalls (or Madianeras, the original Spanish title) is a quirky romantic film well suited for this modern age of cyber life and isolation within crowded cities. It follows the distinctly similar but not overlapping lives of Martin, a web designer and Mariana, an architect who designs window displays and their neuroses and quiet lives in Buenos Aires. Through their failed attempts at relationships and long days spent alone in their apartments it is quite clear from the beginning what a perfect match for each other they are, what is questioned is whether the two will ever actually meet. As Mariana asks, "how can I find a person when I don't know what I'm looking for?" While the film feels at times more dependent on aesthetics than plot, as someone who enjoys a good visual I can't complain (any depth it does lack is more than made up for by its avoidance of typical rom-com trope). All in all, it's a film dying to be watched and reviewed online--viewers who spend most of their days in isolation in front of a glaring computer screen will find it hauntingly familiar and comfortingly hopeful.
screencaps by me
CONVERSATION