Opening recently in these parts, this Mexican story of a man dealing with the suicide of his ex-wife just before Passover is funny and poignant. Its Spanish title is Five Days Without Nora, but the English title is a nice double entendre, since Nora is demanding even after death, having planned the pesach dinner to the nth degree. The feature debut of Mexican-Jewish director/writer/editor/producer Mariana Chenillo is assured and has earned her more work. After you see it, read this interview (contains spoilers) in which she talks about taking many elements of the fictional story from the lives of her own grandparents. Star Fernando Luján (new to me, he has over 100 acting credits, starting in 1953, when he was 15 years old) has a wonderful screen presence--dry and sarcastic yet sweet and playful with his granddaughters.
Great music, fabulous mid-century set dressing in the apartments (not to mention the lovely old lace tablecloth and silver pattern), and good acting make this a must see. Plus it has quite a lot of discussion and preparation of food; so it's going on the list of food movies.
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