''Such Is Life'' () is a 1939 Argentine

melodrama film In film studies and criticism, melodrama may variously refer to a genre, mode, style or sensibility characterized by its emphasis on intense and exaggerated emotions and heightened dramatic situations. There is no fixed definition of the term an ...

directed by

Francisco Múgica Francisco Múgica (10 April 1907 – 1985) was an Argentine film director, film editor and cinematographer notable for his work during the Golden Age of Argentine cinema, classical era of Argentine cinema. He was born and died in Buenos Aire ...

and starring Enrique Muiño, Elías Alippi,

Enrique Serrano Enrique Serrano (1891–1965) was an Argentine actor and comedian notable for his work during the Golden Age of Argentine cinema. He appeared in many films of the 1940s and 1950s including '' Muchachas que estudian'', '' Asi es la vida'' (1939 ...

and

Sabina Olmos Rosa Herminia Gómez Ramos (1913–1999), known by the stage name of Sabina Olmos, was an Argentine film actress of the Golden Age of Argentine cinema. She began her career as a radio singer of folklore and tango. Later, she developed a long ...

. It is one of the most celebrated films of the

Golden Age of Argentine cinema The Golden Age of Argentine cinema (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Época de Oro del cine argentino'' or other equivalent names), sometimes known interchangeably as the broader classical or classical-industrial period (Spanish: ''período clásico- ...

. Based on a successful play of the same title by Nicolás de las Llanderas and Arnaldo Malfatti, it focuses on the history of a

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

family from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. A Mexican remake '' Orange Blossom for Your Wedding'' was released in 1950.

Cast

* Enrique Muiño * Elías Alippi *

Arturo García Buhr Arturo García Buhr (16 December 1905 – 4 October 1995) was an Argentine actor and film director notable for his work during the Golden Age of Argentine cinema, classical era of Argentine cinema. He appeared in 30 films between 1933 and 198 ...

*Sabina Olmos *Alberto Bello * Myrta Bonillas *Fernando Campos *Héctor Coire *Niní Gambier *Alfredo Jordan *Felisa Mary *Alímedes Nelson *José Ruzzo *Pablo Vicuña

Style

The style of the film was an important turning point in

Argentine cinema Cinema of Argentina refers to the film industry based in Argentina. The Argentine cinema comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of Argentina or by Argentine filmmakers abroad. The Argentine film industry has histo ...

, since until then the films mainly focused on the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

es and the world of

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...

. As noted by researcher Alejandro Kelly Hopfenblatt:

From the point of view of the parents who see their children grow up and leave home to create their own life stories, an ode to work and family as fundamental supports in times of modernization of society was proposed. The main novelty introduced to the national cinematography was the appearance of a new universe represented from the protagonism of the bourgeoisie, looking for empathy and identification of new spectators.

Release and reception

The film premiered at the Cine Monumental in Buenos Aires on 19 July 1939. It received universal acclaim from critics, who at the time claimed that national cinema should broaden the subjects it represented in order to attract audiences outside of the working class. In 1977, during the last civil–military dictatorship, the government banned the film from being broadcast on television. According to Domingo Di Núbila, this was probably due to a scene in which the Arturo García Buhr's character proudly defends his adherence to socialism. It was selected as the fourth greatest Argentine film of all time in a poll conducted by the

Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken is a museum of cinema of Argentina located in Buenos Aires. It was established on 1971 and holds a collection of 65,000 reels of film. History The Cinema Museum of the City of Buenos Aires was created on Oc ...

in 1977, while it ranked 29th in the 2000 edition. In a new version of the survey organized in 2022 by the specialized magazines ''La vida util'', ''Taipei'' and ''La tierra quema'', presented at the

Mar del Plata International Film Festival The Mar del Plata International Film Festival () is an List of film festivals, international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature festival recognized by the FIAPF ...

, the film reached the 59th position.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Such Is Life (1939 Film) 1939 films 1930s Spanish-language films Argentine black-and-white films Films directed by Francisco Múgica 1939 romantic drama films 1930s romantic musical films Argentine romantic drama films Argentine romantic musical films 1930s musical drama films Argentine musical drama films 1930s Argentine films Spanish-language musical drama films