Even if you hate Valentine’s Day, you will not hate ‘Valentin’

 BRIAN MCLAUGHLIN

If you are itching for that perfect Valentine’s Day movie to sit down and watch with someone special tomorrow that is sad, funny and romantic, then “Valentin” is your answer. On the evening of Wednesday, Feb. 5 there was a screening of the romantic and aptly named 2002 Argentinian movie in Dodd Auditorium at 7:30.

“Valentin” features a strong cast full of believable actors and actresses. The main, titular character is very young but responsible, confident and ambitious. The movie shines in its cinematography, featuring a full gambit of transitions and extremely appropriate framing. It has moments of humorous absurdity, as well as touching moments that pull at the heart strings and hit directly in the feels. The ending wraps up cleanly leaving everybody happy.

The movie is in Spanish but was screened with English subtitles. It features a young boy whose mother left when he was very young. As a result, the boy faces many trials; he is in a rush to grow up, is looking for a woman suitable to be his mother-in-law and has thoughts of romance and chivalry that show in his name and character.

There is a large Spanish speaking population here at University of Mary Washington, as well as students that take Spanish courses. Students were encouraged to attend the event for their Spanish classes.

“My professor said her students can receive extra-credit points if they see “Valentin” and write a small response to it in Spanish,” said sophomore Alex Rodriguez.

The crowd was not just UMW students, however. There was a crowd of young and old at the screening for “Valentin.”

The audience was courteous and humble and movie was widely enjoyed yet seemingly unexpected. It was apparent that people thought it was not only romantic, but a good mix of happy and sad.

“I like the correlation between the main character’s name and personality. I especially enjoyed the reference to John Cage,” said sophomore Chance Emory.

Unfortunately, the screening in George Washington Hall was only a one-time event. However, “Valentin” can be found on Netflix.