Las modelos (Spanish for "the models") is a 1963 film directed and written by Vlasta Lah, the first woman director of sound films in Argentina and the only woman filmmaker in 1960s Latin America.[1] It was her second and last film, released after her 1960 directorial debut Las furias. The film tells the story of Sonia and Ana, two young haute couture models, who are played by two real-life models instead of actresses.[1]
| Las modelos | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster. | |
| Directed by | Vlasta Lah |
| Screenplay by | Vlasta Lah Abelardo Arias |
| Story by | Vlasta Lah |
| Produced by | Víctor E. Catrani Oscar Mario Guevara Justo Martínez |
| Starring | Mercedes Alberti Greta Ibsen |
| Cinematography | Francis Boeniger |
| Music by | Lucio Milena |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | Argentina |
| Language | Spanish |
Cast
edit- Mercedes Alberti
- Greta Ibsen
- Fabio Zerpa
- Jorge Hilton
- Alberto Berco
- Aldo Mayo
- Nélida Bilbao
- Lia Casanova
- Argentinita Vélez
- Leda Zanda
- María Principito
- Víctor Martucci
- Guillermo Pérez Gaviola
- Guillermo Gatti
- Guillermo Cuba
Critical reception
editUnlike Las furias, which was poorly received by critics, Las modelos received mostly positive reviews.[1] Radiolandia magazine declared that the theme of the film was of "appreciable depth", celebrating that its the struggle of young women who earn a living on their own in big cities.[1] The review of newspaper Crítica read: "In the manner of a short novel, haute couture in a modest approach."[2] In a less enthusiastic review, La Nación equated the film to a television play and described it as an "elementary story loaded with ingenuity and conventionalism".[2]
Writing in 2001, Raúl Manrupe and María Alejandra Portela described the film as a "boring point of view that wants to function as social criticism."[2] In a 2022 poll of The 100 Greatest Films of Argentine Cinema—organized by magazines La vida útil, Taipei and La tierra quema, presented at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival—Las modelos reached the joint 62nd spot, meaning it received one vote.[3] It was voted by filmmaker Lorena Jozami, who described it as a "novel film ahead of its time with strong female characters that defy the androcentric trend of cinema to this day."[4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d Pereira, Martín Miguel; Vey, Candela (2022). "La escasez de fuentes en el caso Vlasta Lah". Imagofagia (in Spanish) (25). Buenos Aires: Asociación Argentina de Estudios de Cine y Audiovisual. ISSN 1852-9550. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
- ^ a b c Manrupe, Raúl; Portela, María Alejandra (2001). Un diccionario de films argentinos (1930-1995) (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Editorial Corregidor. pp. 381–382. ISBN 950-05-0896-6.
- ^ "Las modelos" (in Spanish). Encuesta de cine argentino 2022. November 11, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
- ^ "Lorena Jozami" (in Spanish). Encuesta de cine argentino 2022. November 11, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
External links
edit- Las modelos at Cinenacional.com (in Spanish)
- Las modelos at IMDb