A slender but crowd pleasing fable, Valentin is set in a gloriously photographed Buenos Aires of the 1960s. It's here that our title character and hero, eight-year-old Valentin lives. A lonely, bespectacled young boy, he lives with his grandmother while his father gets on with the serious business of bedding as many women as he possibly can. With his mother completely out of the picture, Valentin has fashioned an obsession with finding a solid family unit and outer space, preferably leading to employment with NASA.
The director, Alejandro Agresti, has said that elements of Valentin are reflective of his own childhood. And though there's not much doubt that ample artistic licence has been taken with characters and situations, there's a playful, innocent undercurrent to Valentin that's difficult to resist. Much of the appeal of the film lies with the gaping charisma provided by the young actor in the titular role, Rodrigo Noya. Showing a maturity which richly belies his tender years, he's an impressive performer. Indeed, perhaps too much of the film lies with the work of Noya, as director Alejandro Agresti overplays the high emotional angle of the material, leading to an occasional outpouring of reckless sentimentality. Still, it's nicely played out with the director himself doing good work with his depiction of Valentin's womanising father.
