The Fish Child (2009)

The Worst Film Ever

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Fresh and Exciting

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Lala is in love with her maid Ailin whom she has known since she was 13. They plan to steal from Lala's Argentinian family and run away back to Ailin's Paraguay home town on the lake. There is a mysterious legend of the Fish Child at the lake. Ailin is caught for the thieve and refuses to turn on Lala. The detention center has a dark secret and Lala strives to retrieve her love in a daring escape.The two women are compelling characters and there is a nice forbidden love going on. The chemistry is OK but could be better. The movie could have a better flow. It is edited in a time-jumping disjointed way. It's not the best way to establish chemistry for the couple and for the flow of their journey. Time jumbos are not fit for everything. The movie stumbles a few times and the last act is where the movie fumbles. It's all jammed together with sex slavery, the escape, and the reveal of the legend. The worst is the overly emotional reaction to her dead dog in the middle of the shootout. I kind of chuckled when they carried both the injured and the dead dog as they escaped. The movie has some interesting aspects but overall, it is a slight miss.

It sounded interesting; almost like an Argentine version of "Heavenly Creatures" - but in the end "The Fish Child" fails to live up to the promise that it seems to have. The story revolves around the teenage daughter of an Argentine judge and his wife, who falls in love with the family's Paraguayan maid. The two plot to run off together to Paraguay, to live in a house by a lake, but things don't turn out as planned when the judge is killed. There's not a lot of mystery about his killing; there is a lot of intrigue about the past - particularly the maid's past - but somehow the movie seemed kind of choppy to me (perhaps the result of subtitles) so that it didn't really draw me in particularly well.The strongest part of the movie is probably the performance of Ines Efron as the judge's daughter. She was quite good and convincing in the role. Mariela Vitale was also quite good as the maid.That said, the movie still disappointed a bit. (4/10)

"The Fish Child" or "El Nino Pez" is Argentinean director Lucia Puenzo follow up to the critical hit "XXY". Puenzo once again casts Ines Efron to star in this story of a family in the rich upper class suburbs of Buenos Aries."The Fish Child" is more ambitious and sprawling in its story telling which also contributes too many of its faults. While "XXY" was a small character drama focused on the struggle of one persons search for identity "The Fish Child" reaches for a more broad almost soap opera like style. The story is told in a fractured non linear style making a first viewing somewhat of a challenge.It is a modern day love story between two young women Lala (Efron), the daughter of a judge and, Ailin the family maid. They plan to run away together to Paraguay and live in a house on the shores of Lake Ypoa. The problem is they have no money. Lala's father is about to retire and write a scathing memoir about the rampant corruption within the police force. But before he can do any of this he is murdered but by who? Lala and Ailin have their motives as do others.The story is told from Lala's point of view and mainly focuses on Ailin. She is accused and arrested for the murder and send to prison. The story flashes back and forth in time to give us a background on the characters, but when it comes to the third act the plot is just too bloated and over stuffed. We find out a bit more about Ailin's past and an anticlimactic resolution to who killed Lala's father. Needless to say they escape to Paraguay and live happily ever after or something like that. Obviously not the greatest movie but the acting of the two girls is pretty decent and will appeal to those who scour the foreign films section looking for something different.

This movie gives an steady view into the existing relationships of the protagonist's family.The movie keeps the context, yet change frames to show differences of human nature. The outcomes are sometimes drastic, sometime pleasant.The urban lifestyle of Argentina and rural landscape of Paraguay have been used to show the contrasts. The protagonist plays a simple girl with honest emotions. Her lover on the other hand is a maze. She has a range of emotional and physical connections to different people, who form a part of her existence. The former, with a good fortune and privileged life, the latter with a rustic background and tragic life. She keeps spinning misery around herself under different circumstances,that ultimately affect her lover so much that she is ready to run away to a different country. The movie picks up pace and keep changing locations to keep audience interested.It would be good to watch this on a Tuesday evening as a mid week thought breaker.