Gigante

Screening at just about every film festival of note throughout 2009, Gigante has been noted as an achievement, understated but not listless, condescending, or overly prosaic in its neorealist leanings, despite being short of greatness. It is true that this stalker romance is not a life-changing movie, with an excessive build-up to a minor climax, but it isn't trying to be either. There is a keen tonal directorial perception displayed throughout, as the story, which details an overweight security guard's obsession with a member of the janitorial staff, who he watches nightly on security cameras, could delve into clichéd territory easily if peril or pity came into play. With Julia (Leonor Svarcas) playing the passive object of desire, the weight of the film rests on Jara (Horacio Camandule), as his quiet workplace crush extends out into the real world when he starts following her around. He isn't portrayed as pathetic, or even particularly dangerous, despite the constant heavy metal blaring from his earphones, instead coming off as a simple but friendly loner with mostly good intentions. This is an exercise in timidity and the feeling of inadequacy more so than it is one of invasion and victimization. And while very little actually happens, the experience of Gigante is thoroughly engrossing, which is quite the feat for a film about a man that utters maybe ten lines of dialogue. Appropriately, the short film included with this Film Movement release is Dennis, a story about an overly bulky body-builder that goes on a date, feeling and looking like an awkward oaf. This one screened last year at the Worldwide Short Film Festival and sharply captures the insecurities behind external bodily obsession and the need of peer validation.