Las Acacias

We had an audience of 40 last night – pretty good considering the weather, and the fact that Las Acacias has been on TV a couple of times recently.
It's scheduled again (Film4)  at 11am on Jan 24th if you missed it (or want to feast your eyes on that baby again).

Over 70% of respondents rated it as A (excellent) or B(very good). The overall feedback rating was 81% - if you want to see how that stacks up against our other films select the link at the right hand side.

I thought Ruben behaved horribly at first. But that cute little baby melted his flinty heart. I suppose we are to assume that both adults are emotionally scarred by their previous relationships and it would be nice to think they found true happiness in the end. I thought all the acting was brilliant. I hope that baby's career hasn't peaked already – it would be a pity if she's already played her finest role.

Why was the film called Las Acacias? As far as I can tell it just means acacia tree and that has no particular connotation in Spanish. Maybe the logs were acacia but as far as I know they don't grow that big. Is there some special significance to acacias? Like mistletoe? Does anyone else know?

I was intrigued by the weird brew they were drinking so did some research. It's called mate and is an infusion prepared from the yerba plant (a species of holly) and the flavour is said to be reminiscent of green tea. Here's an extract from Wikipedia:

"Mate.. a traditional South American infused drink, particularly in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, southern states of Brazil, south of Chile, the Bolivian Chaco, and to some extent, Syria and Lebanon. It is prepared from steeping dried leaves of yerba mate ... in hot water. 

Mate is served with a metal straw from a shared hollow calabash gourd. The straw is called a bombilla in some Latin American countries, a bomba in Portuguese, and a bombija or, more generally, a masassa (type of straw) in Arabic. The straw is traditionally made of silver. Modern, commercially available straws are typically made of nickel silver, called Alpaca; stainless steel, or hollow-stemmed cane. The gourd is known as a mate or a guampa; while in Brazil, it has the specific name of cuia, or also cabaça (the name for indigenous-influenced calabash gourds in other regions of Brazil, still used for general food and drink in remote regions). Even if the water is supplied from a modern thermos, the infusion is traditionally drunk from mates or cuias.

As with other brewed herbs, yerba mate leaves are dried, chopped, and ground into a powdery mixture called yerba. The bombilla acts as both a straw and a sieve. The submerged end is flared, with small holes or slots that allow the brewed liquid in, but block the chunky matter that makes up much of the mixture. A modern bombilla design uses a straight tube with holes, or spring sleeve to act as a sieve"

There's an interesting bit on etiquette:

"Mate is traditionally drunk in a particular social setting, such as family gatherings or with friends. The same gourd (cuia) and straw (bomba/bombilla) are used by everyone drinking. One person (known in Portuguese as the preparador, cevador or patrão, and in Spanish as the cebador) assumes the task of server. Typically, the cebador fills the gourd and drinks the mate completely to ensure that it is free of particulate matter and of good quality. In some places passing the first brew of mate to another drinker is considered bad manners, as it may be too cold or too strong; for this reason the first brew is often called mate del zonzo (mate of the fool). The cebador subsequently refills the gourd and passes it to the drinker to his or her right, who likewise drinks it all, without thanking the server. It is possible that the cebador drinks the second filling as well, if he or she deems it too cold or bitter. When there is no more tea, the straw makes a loud sucking noise, which is not considered rude. The ritual proceeds around the circle in this fashion until the mate becomes lavado ("washed out" or "flat"), typically after the gourd has been filled about ten times or more depending on the yerba used (well-aged yerba mate is typically more potent, and therefore provides a greater number of refills) and the ability of the cebador. When one has had his fill of mate, he or she politely thanks the cebador passing the mate back at the same time. When someone takes too long, others in the roda (Spanish: "ronda"; English: "round") will likely friendly warn him or her by saying "bring the talking gourd" (cuia de conversar); an Argentine equivalent, especially among young people, being "no es un micrófono" ("it's not a microphone"), an allusion to the drinker holding the mate for too long, as if they were using it as a microphone to deliver a lecture."

So Ruben was topping up the gourd with hot water from his flask. There's pictures in Wikipedia of people walking about with gourds and flasks - it's normal in South America. And it was also normal for Ruben and Jacinta to share the same drinking straw. So there.

For more fascinating details just search on mate and yerba in wikipedia.

Here's what our audience had to say about last night's film:

A	Excelente! So beautiful and so charming. Lots of emotional developments and a delightful lack of 'action!'
A	Lovely film – poignant and understated.
A	Lovely – very subtle.
A	Nice story. Pretty baby.
A	Well, I enjoyed that so much more than I expected!! Just goes to show you do not need much dialogue to tell a good story!
A	BAFTA for the best under 1s
A	Beautiful simplicity.
A	Champ – a million miles from thrill-a-minute American movies. Wonderful interaction with the child, loved the long takes and the absolute simplicity of dialogue and plot.
A	Nice ???? (Illegible)
A	Great film. Acting superb. Simple story yet gripping.
B	An unusual road film, baby should get an Oscar. Very pleasant.
B
B
B	A charming, gentle film.
B	Shows you can do without words, music, glamour and even cute babies? Powerful.
B	A little slow at first, but the relationship developed, although the baby was probably the star of the show.
B	Big brother in a truck!
B	I liked the sort of tension but then nothing 'happened'. The only happening was Ruben's change of character. Baby amazing.
B	Quite absorbing considering no dialogue. The baby was a gem.
B	Better than the average 'rom-com' but journey interminable!! The Oscar goes to the baby.
B	Slow moving but he got there in the end. Did he call back? Delightful.
B	Very touching. The baby was a good actress!
C	What you might call a slow burner – but touching. V. impressed with the baby's acting!!
C	Subtle and underplayed, without overworking the scriptwriter.
C	I thought he would never ask! Lovely baby!
C	A lot of questions were left unanswered, but absorbing film about a small portrait of life
C	A different road movie with some surprising twists and developments
C	Lovely faces, especially the baby! Genuinely engaging acting, in spite of the somewhat boring premise.
C	Excellent performances but too slow for me. Charming bits too few and far between.
C	A portrayal of a man falling in love? But with a 5-month old girl? Or a family?
C	Interesting in a way that they tried to connect. Was he missing his family and tried to reconnect?

On-line:

Peter Bradshaw  in The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/dec/02/las-acacias-film-review

Anthony Quinn in The Independent (5 stars):
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/las-acacias-12a-6270467.html

IMDB users gave it 6.8 out of 10: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1754078/

Rotten Tomatoes audience rating 62%:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/las_acacias_2011/