The Dead Man And Being Happy

Running time: 94 mins

On the road with a hired killer who doesn't kill and a woman who doesn't look like women in films. This low-key tale of a hit man on his last legs and the woman he picks up on the road mixes Argentinean minimalism with a fascinating sound design, ever so slightly surreal dark-edged Borgesian set pieces, a voiceover narration reminiscent of Historias Extraordinarias (Cinequest 2009), and more than a hint of laughter. From a ruined beach resort that is "half Paradise and half Apocalypse" to a mountain spa full of geriatric Germans and beyond, wherever the road leads, join Santos, Alejandra, and the redoubtable Ford Falcon named Camborio in this "playful and unexpectedly moving reverie on love, death and the open road." [end quote from: NYFF.] - Charlie Cockey