Smokers Only

A suicidal woman and a male prostitute connect in an ATM station and begin a tenuous affair. Ennui-ridden singer Reni (Cecilia Bengolea) falls in love with handsome young street hustler Andrés (Leonardo Brezicki) in this artsy film from Argentine director Veronica Chen. Reni first spies Andrés servicing a male client in the ATM kiosk where he does most of his business (the homoerotic scenes are captured mainly via the bank's security camera). They become friends and together wander the Buenos Aires streets, philosophizing, striking disaffected poses, and eventually falling into bed together. Reni tries being a prostitute herself but she isn't as enthralled with getting paid as Andrés. Eventually this comes between them. Argentine director Veronica Chen also wrote and edited the film, which achieves an almost abstract sense of beauty at times via extreme slow-motion shots of Andrés wandering the neon-drenched avenidas--standing, rollerblading, and waiting to hustle and or be hustled. Lovers of international art films will enjoy the philosophical, faux-Godardian attitude and dissonant, heavily percussive score. Frequent shots of the attractive leads lounging around in their underwear provides extra sex appeal, and may invite comparisons to the films of Larry Clark and the advertisements of Calvin Klein. —Anonymous