Campanella is great! The simplicity and humanism of this film really got to me. I have watched many movies starring Ricardo Darin and most of them I liked but with Campanella's direction he shines even more (same as Valeria Bertucelli who I believe to be the best argentine actress since Norma Aleandro). I strongly recommend it. I wish there were more films like this one. I also wish Campanella would direct more often since everything I've watched from him I liked a lot (El Hijo de la Novia, Vientos de Agua, etc). I see he's been directing or writing scripts for House M.D., 30 Rock, Law & Order, etc. I would like to see him directing argentine movies more often instead. Greetings from Cordoba, Argentina.

As a fan of Hijo de la Novia, I found Luna de Avellaneda to be a complete disappointment. When I voiced my mixed feelings about this film to Argentines, they invariably accused me of not understanding the film because I'm not Argentine. I can argue with them on that since I understood the references they were accusing me of missing (the importance of social clubs in Argentine society, the ill-effects of neoliberal privatizations, etc,etc.) but, at the end of the day, a film needs to speak beyond its intended audience. But this is a problem with the ghettoization of national cinemas - faced with steamrolling Hollywood productions that they can't compete with, local industries attempt to counter-program with self-consciously nationalistic productions that attempt to reach the largest possible domestic audience. It's a lose-lose situation since instead of getting challenging foreign films (at the end of the day, the best antidote to Hollywood) we get films like Luna de Avellaneda (or, even worse, Patoruzito). On the bright side, recent years have witnessed a renaissance in Argentina cinema.The film itself is structured around a fairly obvious metaphor - the social club clearly is meant to represent Argentina. A once glorious past is faced with a brutal and uncertain future. In this sense, the film taps into the heavy nostalgia that is pervasive in Argentine culture (ie. the tango). That the social club will be privatized is a clear analogy with the brutal effects of neo-liberal policies in the country over the past two decades. The problems with such heavy-handed symbolism is, well, heavy-handed symbolism.At the end of the day, I don't let Hollywood movies get away with cheap sentimentality, so I certainly won't let foreign films get away with it either.

A superb movie, the best Argentine movie I've seen. The entire plot (the attempt to keep the neighbourhood social club going) is an allegory for Argentine recent history, and each character represents a strand in that, eg the old Don, the Spanish immigrant who came to Argentina so full of hope - like many - but whose time has passed. Despite the light relief and clever humour it's ultimately a tragic tale, as any good tango. I'm not sure how well it would play outside the country ie if it would resonate with people who didn't understand the allegory, but for anyone with an interest in Argentina it's a definite don't miss.

A good Argentinian movie...But quite depressing because of the fact that it shows the reality of Argentina,where 2 ways of thinking clash everyday:An old and romantic one...against the new defined by the modern ideas in economy and politics....This movie makes it quite clear which one is works the best.So the movie tries to give hope by showing that things can be changed by making an effort. The acting is quite good...the ambientation( does that word exist??) in the 50's is good So a good movie,a tad to long and not the best acting by Darin6 out 10