Empty Nest
When their last child leaves home, a middle-aged couple suddenly finds itself alone for the first time in years. While the husband tackles the empty-nest syndrome with vivid fantasies, his wife throws herself into a whirlwind of activities.
Cultured, prosperous, blessed with three children and many friends, Leonardo and Martha are a truly enviable example of the species "married couple." Leonardo is an author of considerable repute; Martha, a hyperactive housewife with academic interests. Leonardo sits back and observes; Martha forges ahead and acts. An enviable couple? They both begin to question their happiness when Julia, their youngest, marries and leaves Buenos Aires. The house is empty, the children scattered all over the world. For Leonardo and Martha, there are no more excuses for not addressing all those little grievances and annoyances that have piled up over the years. Martha seeks release by going back to the university and surrounding herself with people. Leonardo takes refuge in fantasies that become so real that he can´t distinguish them from reality.
Argentine director and scriptwriter Daniel Burman (‘Lost Embrace’ - Double Silver Berlin Bear Winner ) - one of Latin America’s most widely known filmmakers - takes a humorous and loving look at a fussy, self-absorbed, but lovable artist and his enterprising, down-to-earth wife. A beautifully twisted story and fantastic acting (Almodovar’s Cecilia Roth from ‘Todo Sobre Me Madre’) helped the film to a outstanding theatrical start in Argentina.
Director Daniel Burman :
A man and a woman floating on water. An image, suggesting both tranquillity and death. "EMPTY NEST" started with a series of images and ideas about the space that kids occupy and later leave empty. About marriage, about the couple. The film has a lot to do with accepting one’s own decline. I think that in order to deal with this, our only escape lies in the creation of a fantasy world.
DANIEL BURMAN
A man and a woman floating on water. An image, suggesting both tranquillity and death. "EMPTY NEST" started with a series of images and ideas about the space that kids occupy and later leave empty. About marriage, about the couple. The film has a lot to do with accepting one’s own decline. I think that in order to deal with this, our only escape lies in the creation of a fantasy world.
DANIEL BURMAN
Jul 25th 2010