Primer Plano Film Group (2012, Argentina - digitally restored version)
Release date
6May1985(1985-05-06)
Running time
85 minutes
Country
Argentina
Language
Spanish
Waiting for the Hearse (Esperando la carroza in Spanish) is a 1985 Argentineblack comedy film directed by Alejandro Doria. It opened on 6 May 1985. Originally not successful upon release, it is now considered a cult film and representative of Argentine culture.
The movie belongs to the criollogrotesque (costumbrismo) genre and is based on the play of the same name by Jacobo Langsner, premiered by the Comedia Nacional company in 1962. The film adaptation starred local well-known figures from the theatre world, such as Antonio Gasalla, China Zorrilla, Luis Brandoni and Betiana Blum. It's considered a classic in the River Plate culture, and its reruns on TV still draw large audiences. On April 2, 2009, 23 years after the original film's release, a sequel, Waiting for the Hearse 2, was released.
The film was an adaptation of the play Esperando la carroza (Waiting for the Hearse) by Romanian-Uruguayan Jacobo Langsner and its TV adaptation, broadcast as a part of a show called Alta Comedia by Channel 9 of Buenos Aires during the 1970s, starred China Zorrilla who would go on to play the main role on the big screen adaptation later on, Pepe Soriano, Raúl Rossi, Dora Baret, Alberto Argibay, Lita Soriano, Alicia Berdaxágar, Marta Gam and the special appearance of the Austrian actress and acting teacher Hedy Crilla (1898–1984) as Mamá Cora.
Author and director Alejandro Doria rewrote the script for it to include more lines for the Mamá Cora character, which had very few in both previous versions, among other modifications.
Plot
The Musicardi family's octogenarian widow, Ana María de los Dolores Buscaroli, called Mamá Cora by everybody (Antonio Gasalla), has four children: Antonio (Luis Brandoni), Sergio (Juan Manuel Tenuta), Emilia (Lidia Catalano) and Jorge Musicardi (Julio De Grazia), whom she lives with and who is going through financial troubles. This situation, plus lack of space and constant generational conflicts, makes Susana, Jorge's wife (Mónica Villa), beg her siblings-in-law to take their mother with any of them for a while after Mamá Cora misunderstood her and ruined part of the meal Susana had labored over.
Susana storms into Sergio's house, who's getting ready with his perfidious wife Elvira (China Zorrilla) and their daughter Matilde (Andrea Tenuta) to welcome, with a classic Sunday meal, nouveau riche Antonio and his wife Nora (Betiana Blum), who ascended socially and economically in unclear circumstances during Argentina's last dictatorship. Despite Susana's pleading, no one wants to house Mamá Cora.
After what happened with Susana, Mamá Cora decides to go out and stop bothering everyone for some hours. She ends up in the house across Sergio's babysitting the son of Dominga, the neighbor. When nobody can find her after the fight with Susana and they hear news about the discovery of an old lady's disfigured body after committing suicide by throwing herself under a train, the remorseful clan comes to the hastened conclusion that Mamá Cora killed herself so she would stop being a bother. Heartbroken, they arrange a funeral and invite a large number of Mamá Cora's relatives, friends and acquaintances. The conmotion attracts Mamá Cora's attention from up on Dominga's terrace.
Years of troubles, resentment and intrigues come up between all of the Musicardis while they prepare the service for their matriarch. In the middle of her own vigil, Mamá Cora reappears, leaving everybody astonished. She is convinced to go to a funeral for the old lady who had committed suicide, a Hungarian woman whose body was sent to the Musicardi family by mistake, so she won't discover she stumbled upon her own funeral. The rest of the family stays behind and reflects on the events of the afternoon.
Sergio's house on Echenagucía street in 2010, visibly damaged.The same house in 2014, with a plaque commemorating it.
The house where the action takes place is in the neighborhood Versalles in Buenos Aires, on Echenagucía St. It was restored and declared Cultural Heritage of the city of Buenos Aires.
Reception
Waiting for the Hearse was initially not well received by critics upon its release, and it was a moderate success at the box office. It later became a cult classic in Argentine cinema, and - since the first decades after its release - it has been considered as bitter satire of Argentine idiosyncrasy, the reality of the late '70s and early 80's and the disregard for senior people, as well as the state of the post-dictatorship society.
The script won the Argentores Award (the award of the Argentine Authors' Union) and the Argentine Film Critics Association award for Best Adapted Screenplay.[4]
Legacy
As a cult classic, every year the film draws high audience numbers when it is broadcast on TV, generally on Sundays, since the story takes place on a Sunday. The dialogues have spawned catchphrases and expressions that have since been incorporated to the everyday language of both Argentina and Uruguay.
Celebrating two decades from its opening, in 2005 the film's DVD was launched with behind-the-scenes and deleted footage, plus an interview with Doria.
The character of "Mamá Cora" was later played by Antonio Gasalla in many other TV shows, including his own.
Sequel
The sequel, Waiting for the Hearse 2, was filmed in 2008 with a script that was written by Jacobo Langsner in 1986. The film was later released in 2009. It received very negative reviews and did poorly at the box office. The role of Jorge was taken by Roberto Carnaghi, due to Julio de Grazia's death in 1989.
Remakes and adaptations
Among the different international adaptations, there is a PortugueseTV movie titled Querida mãe ("Beloved mom"), based on the movie.
An homonymous play was premiered in Madrid, with Spanish actors speaking with a rioplatense accent.
A Brazilianremake by Fox Filmes do Brasil and Globo Filmes was released in 2008, starring Ary Fontoura and titled A guerra dos Rocha (The war of the Rochas).
Related Research Articles
Enrique Pinti was an Argentine actor and comedian.
Kisses on the Forehead is a 1996 Argentine drama film written and directed by Carlos Galettini and starring China Zorrilla and Leonardo Sbaraglia. The film is based in the play by Jacobo Langsner Una margarita llamada Mercedes, which he wrote for Zorrilla, about the love between a high-class old Grand-Dame and a young writer just arrived from Montevideo to Buenos Aires City. The film premiered on 5 September 1996 in Buenos Aires and was nominated for two Silver Condor Awards in 1997.
Diana Frey is an Argentine film producer and production manager active in the Cinema of Argentina since 1976.
China Zorrilla was an Uruguayan theater, film, and television actress, also director, producer and writer. An immensely popular star in the Rioplatense area, she is often regarded as a "Grand Dame" of the South American theater stage.
Fernando Siro was an Argentine film actor, film director and screenwriter.
Rebellion in Patagonia is a 1974 Argentine drama-historical film directed by Héctor Olivera and starring Héctor Alterio, Luis Brandoni, José Soriano and Federico Luppi. It was written by Olivera with Osvaldo Bayer and Fernando Ayala, based on Osvaldo Bayer's renowned novel Los vengadores de la Patagonia Trágica, which was based upon the military suppression of anarchist union movements in Santa Cruz Province in the early 1920s.
State of Reality is a 1984 Argentine historical drama film directed by Alejandro Doria and starring Luis Brandoni, Darío Grandinetti and Lito Cruz. The film won the 1985 Silver Condor Awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress.
The Truce is a 1974 Argentine romantic drama film directed by Sergio Renán and based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Mario Benedetti. It was the first Argentine film to be nominated for an Academy Award.
Betiana Blum is an Argentine actress.
Alejandro Doria was a noted Argentine cinema and television director.
Antonio Gasalla is an Argentine actor, comedian, and theatre director.
Man on Pink Corner is a 1962 Argentine film directed by René Múgica, based on the story by Jorge Luis Borges. It was shown at the Cannes and San Sebastián film festivals.
Inda Ledesma was an Argentine stage, television, and cinema actress who also gained prominence as a theatre director and instructor.
Pocho Lapouble was an Argentine jazz drummer, composer and arranger.
Mónica Villa is an Argentine actress of stage, screen, and TV, as well as a researcher and educator. She earned a Best Actress award for her role as "Susana" in cult classic "Esperando la Carroza at the 1985 Festival de Cine Iberoamericano, in Huelva, Spain. She won an ACE Golden award for best leading actress in the 2002 comedy "Ojos traidores", a 2004 Premios Trinidad Guevara for best Actress of a Repertoire Company, a Premios Carlos de Oro for her 2011 performance as best lead actress in the theater production "Jardín De Otoño", and in 2015 a Premios Estrella de Mar for Best Female Performance in a Repertoire Company for "La Nona". In addition, she has been nominated for a Best Actress in a TV Special for the 2003 Premios Martín Fierro, making her acting work recognized in all three major media.
Leonor Manso is an Argentine actress. She appeared in more than 70 films since 1969. Manso directed her first production, Waiting for Godot, in 1996. She married and divorced fellow actors Antonio Grimau and Patricio Contreras.
Jacobo Langsner was a Uruguayan playwright who had a strong presence in the Uruguayan theatre from 1950 onwards. His work is a showcase of middle-class hypocrisy.
Marta Bianchi is an Argentine comic-dramatic actress of cinema, theater and television.
Waiting for the Hearse is a theatrical play, written by the Uruguayan Jacobo Langsner. It belongs to the criollo grotesque (costumbrismo) genre or black comedy and premiered in Montevideo in 1962. Ever since it has seen many adaptations, including the world-famous 1985 film of the same name.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
