Ray Pride

Like a bracing burst of lost early Godard, Argentine director Diego Lerman's comic caper "Suddenly" posits a pair of twentysomething pixie-dyke criminalettes, calling each other Mao and Lenin, who passive-aggressively kidnap a melancholy lingerie salesgirl named Marcia. Lerman starts with quick glimpses of central Buenos Aires, shooting in a grimy black-and-white akin to Jim Jarmusch's "Stranger than Paradise," capturing the broken-down and mildewed character of that city's crumbling streets and graffiti-adorned walls. While smoking and playing pinball, Mao catches a glimpse of the sturdy, malcontent Marcia walking past and declares her love, first in frank sexual terms, then by knifepoint, and finally, by games-playing. They travel inland to the small town Rosario, where Lenin's family is from--"Lenin is very passionate" is a sample of the deadpan dialogue--meeting up with her elderly aunt, the trio staying there for a while, trying on roles, clothes, the next stage of their lives. Unexpectedly poignant, it's one of the sneakiest, craftiest, sweetest little gems I've seen in an age. 89m.

"Suddenly" opens Friday at the Music Box. (2003-09-25)

Also by Ray Pride

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With the painfully intelligent "demonlover," Olivier Assayas fashions a counter-"Matrix" of paranoia and dread, while tempting the boundaries of subversive or offensive imagery
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Tuning into Tokyo
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Short Runs
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Tip of the Week
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Requiem for a teen
(2003-08-27)

Short Runs
(2003-08-27)

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