Absolutely amazing

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Puzzle is about more than a fifty-year-old woman discovering she has a talent for assembling puzzles; it's about a family in which all members--the woman, her husband and their two sons--are stuck in very traditional roles, though no one is apparently unhappy. The film opens as the woman celebrates her birthday with family and friends. It soon becomes clear that she has done everything for her party, including lighting the candles on the cake she has baked for herself. At the end of the evening, she is left with all the mess. She is, however, distracted by a certain gift, a puzzle, which she prefers toying with to doing the dishes. We are not surprised by her interest in this puzzle, as we have already seen her assemble the pieces of a plate that broke during the party; as well, we know that the salad she made for her guests resembled a puzzle.By the time we meet the other family members, we already think we know them, and we do, to a certain degree. What we don't readily see is that the men are not as stereotypic as we thought they were; they have begun to explore some non-traditional pursuits, including Tai Chi and vegan cooking. Each of them is in the process of growing and changing. But, when the stable, unchanging core of the family, the young men's mother and the husband's wife, finds herself consumed by a new hobby, we feel a tension begin to build. Can she do both--be the ultimate housewife and mother and, at the same time, explore her new interest? When we hear her husband's repeated grumbles and witness her telling him she will give up her puzzles, if that's what he wants, we are not sure. It's clear that he misses her ongoing availability to him and their adolescent sons; it is clear that she has some guilt about wanting to do something other than please her family.So as not to disturb the family balance, our heroine decides to pursue puzzle-making in secret. She meets a gentleman (via an ad she finds at a puzzle shop) who is so impressed with her talent that he wants her to be his partner in an important competition. To practice with him and eventually others, she must make a difficult commute and not get caught, since she has lied to her husband and sons about where she goes twice a week. In the company of her puzzle-partner, she begins a serious transformation. He sees her talent and praises it, praise she graciously accepts. (When she first told her husband she wanted to compete, he laughed at her.) He introduces her to art and tea, his housekeeper and some female friends.For the competition that she has prepared well for, she dresses beautifully and even wears lipstick. In the end, she and her partner win and, after having too much wine to drink in celebration, find themselves in each other's arms. Though she has won a ticket to a grand puzzle championship in Germany, our heroine realizes she doesn't need to take her pursuit any further. She is satisfied and happy. As proof, she offers to take her husband's place in a business transaction which he cannot be present for, and he sees that it is possible to let her do so. It seems that, in the end, this family has enough love, trust and respect that it can, in spite of its growing pains, thrive as a collective of individuals.

As the story begins, we are invited to a birthday party. Maria del Carmen, the lady of the house is seen putting the final touches to everything. Little does one know it is a party to honor her. She is surrounded by a her own family, and friends. Bringing a plate to the table, she misses putting it on the table, breaking it. Picking up the pieces, Maria discovers she has an ability for reassembling the plate, bringing it to its original shape.Maria is a fifty something housewife in a suburb of Buenos Aires. Her husband, Juan, and two grown sons, complete the household. Juan shows all the traces of being a macho man, finding fault with the fruits Maria serves him for dessert. The boys, who must be in the early twenties are planning to leave home. Juan and Maria still enjoy a healthy sex life, something that in other couples of the same age might have died completely.One of Maria's birthday presents is a jigsaw puzzle. She is intrigued by the Egyptian female figure adorning the cover of the box. Maria has no trouble solving the picture. Her interest is piqued when she discovers an ad for someone to participate in training for the game, leading for a national tournament. That puts her in touch with Roberto, an elegant man of means who realizes the potential in Maria as a puzzle solver. In order to meet her new friend, she lies to Juan about a sick aunt recuperating from an operation.Roberto and Maria begin solving together. He has hundreds of those boxes in a room of his house. Maria is skeptic, at first, but she finds a soothing atmosphere by putting all the pieces together. Juan, who is not aware of what is happening, notices the change in his wife, beginning to resent Maria for her new pastime. At the same time, Roberto insists they become a team for the international competition which will be held in Germany, something that Maria will never be able to do. At the same time, Roberto has fallen under the spell of Maria's gentleness, something he is lacking in his own life.This film was a rare treat when it showed recently on a cable channel. First time director Natalia Smirnoff, closely associated to some of her country's leading film creators as a casting director, surprises with a film that shows a talent that must be recognized. Ms. Smirnoff wrote the screenplay for the film. It is obvious she knows these people. Her story is a sobering account of a middle age woman who is somewhat taken for granted by a husband with whom she has shared many years of marriage. Now, at a time when she and her man are facing an upcoming retirement, she finds fulfillment in a game for which she has a natural talent. Maria shows signs of boredom with the way her life has turned out. Discovering a game she knows nothing about, is a way for her to get involved in things that are not household related. Meeting Roberto gives her an opportunity to continue getting better at a game where she excels. Roberto, a lonely man, sees in Maria a kind soul, but he shows restrain in the way he shows how he feels toward her. Maria finds herself in a position where she is not able to decide what is best for her, although ultimately, her own common sense brings her back to reality.One could not think of another actress but Maria Onetto playing Maria. Ms. Onetto underplays her character, giving a performance that will long be remembered. Gabriel Goity is Juan, the husband who is still in love with Maria in spite of his own views about the place of a woman. The excellent Arturo Goetz is on hand to give life to Roberto, the professional player who takes an interest in Maria. Barbara Alvarez, the cinematographer captures both Maria's home, in sharp contrast with Roberto's more opulent residence. The music score is by Alejandro Franov. We congratulate Ms. Smirnoff for a magnificent first film, hoping her talent will be recognized and we expect new ventures from her.

She has her 50th anniversary and does all the work, including serving her guests, which are ignoring her. But she gets one useful present. This puzzle.An this Argentinian housewife suddenly is blessed with talent, something nobody including her family family had ever thought of. This is about her slowly breaking out, meeting a puzzle partner who trains her until they can enter a competition together. There was a way out.A fine little movie with low voice, never arguing. Heroism can also be about sitting at a table. It mostly is, in this thing we call life. The heroism which really changes it.

It might be a movie about passion (of puzzle), but of course it is much more, though not a riddle to see through the hints the director is giving us. The puzzle stands for so much more and while it is difficult to think of how a movie would work with a theme about this, it indeed works quite well as I had the chance to witness at the Internation Festival in Berlin this February.As you can see this is a non-English movie and lately I saw a trailer for a movie with Kevin Kline, if I'm not mistaken, where the movie itself seemed to be a remake of this one. They just changed the "game" (no pun intended) and chess out of it. Couldn't find it under the movie connection on IMDb ... though I guess it can't be too long before someone notices. It just seems to similar. But however good that movie is, it took the easy way, with chess. A game that is so much more popular and so much more interesting to watch others do. With puzzle(s) you have the risk to annoy and bore people. Which might easily have happened to some here too. But it's not about the game ... it's about the players (or characters if you will).