The Last Summer Of La Boyita
Tender coming of age stories like La Boyita in the mould of last year’s
Tender coming of age stories
like La Boyita in the mould of last year’s Tomboy are bound to strike a chord
with nearly everyone,
whether it’s those fondly remembering childhood days or those keen to forget the
experience growing up. Julia
Solomonoff’s tale of a young girl’s last innocent summer fits firmly in the
former camp, as warm and inviting as the Argentinean sun that drenches the
screen.
Young Jorgelina (Guadalipe
Alonso) expects this summer will be like any
other; spending time with her older sister Luciana in their ‘boyita’ – the
small caravan in their garden – playing games and swapping secrets. However
this year Luciana is more interested in boys and bras and so the increasingly
frustrated and lonely Jorgelina decides to head to the country farm her father
owns for the summer, where she strikes up a friendship with the young farm hand
Mario.
La Boyita’s premise could have been lifted from any
coming of age tale of late complete as it is with the usual characteristics of teenagers
discovering the opposite sex while coming to terms with their own body too.
So, what might at first seem slight and fairly
straightforward is lifted by Solomonoff’s sunny cinematography, young Alonso’s
emphatic performance and a rather odd twist two-thirds in that develops into
something far more tender than might have been expected.
As Mario and Jorgelina’s friendship blossoms,
Solomonoff begins to explore young romance in a refreshingly natural and
innocent way, meaning La Boyita is never less than engrossing even if the
sudden departure away from the country and back home makes for a slightly
unfulfilling conclusion. The fact that it makes you eager to see the following
summer’s events shows how effectively the film captures the young pair’s
relationship.
However with its gorgeous visual narrative and rather
tender performances from its young leads, La Boyita firmly establishes itself
as an affectionate and natural tale of young love blossoming on that fine line
between innocence and experience.
