Luis Brandoni and his legacy in cinema: he owes him less than what Argentine cinema owes him

First he was the son of Hector Alterio and even China Zorrilla. Later, a trade unionist, anarchist, father of Andrea del Boca, principled doctor, anarchist and exile, as he himself was. The step of Luis Brandoni Argentine cinema is full, full of artistic and commercial successes.

His film career began 60 years ago, when he released musical scale in 1966, a film with Osvaldo Miranda and Beatriz Taibo. In those years he participated in La cicada estar que arde, goatherd tuteby Juan José Jusid, The twine, The great route, Drive-in mon amour, José María and María Joséuntil 1974 when they arrived two titles that would change not only his film career, but Argentine cinema.

In The truceby Sergio Renán, which was our country’s first Oscar candidate for best foreign film, was Esteban Santomé, the eldest son of Héctor Alterio, who was trying to understand the relationship that his father had with a much younger woman (Ana María Picchio). and in The rebellious Patagoniaby Héctor Olivera, played Antonio Soto, a rural employee and union member. Also with Héctor Alterio, who had to stay in Spain when he accompanied the film to the San Sebastián Festival, threatened by Triple A.

Brandoni, for his part, also threatened with death by Triple A (Argentine Anti-Communist Alliance), went into exile in Mexico for 10 months with his then partner, actress Marta Bianchi. The threats were supposedly due to his role as Secretary General of the Argentine Association of Actors.

Anyway, it came to roll People in Buenos Aires, Juan who laughed and Alonefilms with which he finished positioning himself as one of the figures of national cinema at times when in Hollywood viewed the success of Argentine cinema with concern not only in our territory, but also in all of Latin America.

After exile, Luis’s return was nothing less than with Realizeby Alejandro Doria, already in 1984. Based on an idea by China Zorrilla and on real events, he played Dr. Carlos Ventura, a principled guy who treated a young man in a public hospital who had been in a car accident and left in a coma (Darío Grandinetti’s film debut).

His return to Argentina was marked by great films, which were also successful with the public, such as Waiting for the floatplaying one of China Zorrilla’s sons – and his “three empanadas” scene is famous -, There are some guys downstairs, I will be anything but I love you and Made in Argentinaanother from Jusid, with his wife Marta Bianchi (they were a couple exiled for political reasons…), Patricio Contreras and Leonor Manso. Until recently Luis directed a staging of the play on which the film was based, Made in Lanús.

The comedy of manners tempted him again in a hundred times I shouldn’tlike the father who shouted from the rooftops “they filled the kitchen with humor” and “inflated the hype” when he found out that his daughter (Andrea del Boca) had become pregnant.

Brandoni acted in other adaptations, such as Coexistencethe work of Oscar Viale, which he made in cinema with José Sacristán, directed by Carlos Galettini, and A shadow you will soon beby Héctor Olivera, based on the book by Osvaldo Soriano.

Also The verse, From my neighborhood with love, The dream of heroesagain directed by Renán, and The world against me.

And in films that were great commercial successes he was the judge of The furya film in which Diego Torres was imprisoned and shouted “Guard!”, he acted in That damn ribagain from Jusid, next to Susana Giménez, in A day in paradisenext to Guillermo Francella and Araceli González, or It’s not you, it’s mewith Diego Peretti and Cecilia Dopazo.

Closer in time, it was Renzo Nervi in my masterpiecehis first collaboration with the duo Gastón Duprat (here director) and Mariano Cohn (here producer), 4×4by Cohn, The Odyssey of the Gileswith Ricardo Darín (partner of my brother in lawon TV), and one of the retirees of The tale of the weaselsby Juan José Campanella.

With the director of The secret of his eyes had done on TV The man of your lifeand I would do first in theater and then in cinema Lezama Park.

Campanella did not hesitate for a second to film his adaptation (it is already on Netflix, the same as The tale of the weasels), foreshadowing that perhaps it was the last opportunity to see Brandoni on film.

Because it is likely that Luis Brandoni owed a lot to cinema, but Argentine cinema owes much more to Brandoni.