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Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critics What's this?

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  • Summary: Julio is a struggling young writer who has hit a wall. Unemployed and involved in a half-hearted relationship with his neighbor, things are finally starting to look up when he gets an interview with a renowned author to transcribe his latest work. Things don’t go as planned, however, and Jululio doesn’t get the job. Instead of admitting the truth to his girlfriend, he pretends to be transcribing the novel when actually writing his own story. Searching for inspiration and a plot, Julio revisits a romance he had eight years ago when studying literature in Valdivia. As Julio’s novel progresses, so does his fondness for the past and of the love he let slip away. Based on an internationally acclaimed novella, BONSÁI is a subtly affecting examination of the lies we tell ourselves in order to get by. (Strand Releasing) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 9
  2. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. Reviewed by: Diego Costa
    May 8, 2012
    88
    Cristián Jiménez's film knows how entangled the will to know is with the will to make love.
  2. Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    May 11, 2012
    75
    This isn't a story of Shakespearean proportions, but it's a sweet peg for this complex, carefully constructed gem.
  3. Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    May 10, 2012
    70
    There's nothing obscure about young love and loss, and a story, as Mr. Jiménez put it, about "youngsters who have to deal with this sudden lack of certainties which makes them more lonely than they could have ever imagined."
  4. Reviewed by: Deborah Young
    May 8, 2012
    60
    Jimenez makes a youthful film about sex, lies and literature that has the awkward charm of first love.

See all 9 Critic Reviews

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