“20 CENTIMETERS”–a crowd pleaser

 

“20 Centimeters”

A Crowd Pleaser

Amos Lassen

TLA Releasing’s “20 Centimeters” is another sure crowd pleaser along with the new documentary. “20 Centimeters”, subtitled as “How Big is Your Dream”, is directed by Ramon Salazar is a flamboyant comedy in the style of Mexican director, Pedro Almodovar. It is the story of Marieta, a transsexual who also happens to have a sleeping problem but her immediate problem is how to get rid of the 20 centimeters that stop her from being a real woman. (For those of you who have trouble with non American measurements, let me just say that all you have to do is change the word centimeters to inches and everything becomes a bit clearer). Being a narcoleptic, Marieta seems to fall asleep “whenever” and whenever she does her dreams become elaborate musical numbers and she is the star—a real woman who can sing in English, French and Spanish.

“20 Centimeters” is a tribute to the Hollywood musical of yesterday with lots of colorful and lavish musical numbers that will have you laughing so hard that you will be hurting. Marieta’s dream sequences are nothing short of amazing. As fantastic as her dreams are, her family matches them in craziness. There is a dwarf “cum” cellist, Tomas and a spaced out to lunch character named Bunny, a neighbor, Berta, who dreams of moving to Brazil and another weirdo named “Ice Box. These and her friends from the street are her support system. By now you can tell where this movie is going—Marieta is going to take us on a ride which we will not forget soon.

One day, while at the market, Marieta meets a guy who is not only extremely handsome but who falls in love with her as she is—20 centimeters and all. But her love affair with the guy known only as the “fruit stocker” is thwarted by her desire to rid herself of the appendage that stops her from becoming the woman she wants to be. Not even love will stop her from fulfilling her dream. What desire! What aspiration! What a woman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Marieta will go down in movie g=history with Priscilla from “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” as a drag queen who we love and who becomes part of our lives.