{{Short description|2011 film by Gustavo Taretto}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox film | name = Sidewalls | image = Sidewalls poster.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | native_name = {{Infobox name module|es|Medianeras}} | director = Gustavo Taretto | writer = Gustavo Taretto | producer = {{Plainlist| * Natacha Cervi * Hernán Musaluppi * Christoph Friedel * Lluís Miñarro * Luis Sartor }} | starring = {{Plainlist| * Pilar López de Ayala * Javier Drolas * Inés Efron * Rafael Ferro * Carla Peterson * Adrián Navarro }} | cinematography = Leandro Martínez | editing = {{Plainlist| * Pablo Mari * Rosario Suárez }} | music = Gabriel Chwojnik | studio = {{Plainlist| * Rizoma Films * Pandora Filmproduktion * Eddie Saeta }} | distributor = {{Plainlist| * Aura Films (Argentina) * Real Fiction (Germany) * Karma Films (Spain) }} | released = {{Film date|df=yes|2011|2|15|Berlin|2011|10|6|Argentina|2011|11|18|Spain|2012|5|3|Germany}} | runtime = 95 minutes | country = {{Plainlist| * Argentina * Germany * Spain }} | language = Spanish | gross = $1 million<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1235841/|title=Sidewalls (2011)|website=Box Office Mojo|access-date=5 January 2022}}</ref> }} '''''Sidewalls''''' ({{langx|es|'''Medianeras'''}}) is a 2011 romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Gustavo Taretto.<ref>{{cite news|last=Catsoulis|first=Jeannette|date=25 October 2011|title=When a Neurosis Is Part of the Attraction|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/movies/gustavo-tarettos-sidewalls-review.html|access-date=21 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812124835/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/movies/gustavo-tarettos-sidewalls-review.html|archive-date=12 August 2020}}</ref> The film is an international co-production of Argentina, Germany and Spain.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cineuropa.org/en/film/195683/|title=Sidewalls (Medianeras)|website=Cineuropa|access-date=5 January 2022}}</ref>
==Plot== In the urban sprawl of Buenos Aires, Martín and Mariana are strangers, living in neighboring apartment buildings. Martín is a web designer and takes up photography as a way to cope with his fear of the city. Mariana, an aspiring architect, is forced to move back into her old apartment after a breakup. Living solitary lives in one-room "shoebox" apartments, they both contemplate the changing cityscape, and struggle with anxiety and loneliness, feeling disconnected from other people in the digital age.
'''"A Short Autumn"'''
Witnessing a series of accidents on the street—a prostitute's dog jumps from a balcony, causing a passerby to be struck by a taxi and another to have a heart attack—Martín and Mariana separately stop to help. Martín is diagnosed with a harmless case of discarthrosis and has adopted his ex-girlfriend's dog after she abandoned them both to move to the United States. Mariana, working as a window dresser, finds herself talking to the store mannequins she assembles at home. She rediscovers one of her favorite ''Where's Wally?'' books, with a page she has never been able to solve. Ignoring a call from her ex-boyfriend, she reflects on the end of their four-year relationship.
'''"A Long Winter"'''
Martín and Mariana frequently pass each other in the street without meeting. Spending most of his time online, Martín orders a new desk chair and hires a dogwalker, Ana. They begin dating, but she is already in a relationship and eventually ghosts him. Mariana agrees to a date with a client, Lucas, at a restaurant at the top of a skyscraper. Explaining her phobia of elevators, she takes the stairs, to Lucas' dismay; as he waits at their table, she is overcome with anxiety and leaves. Finding Martín's old office chair on the curb, she brings it home, and deletes all her pictures of her ex-boyfriend from her laptop. She tells the story of the famed Kavanagh Building and is drawn to the music from a neighbor's new piano. Martín tries online dating and meets Marcela, a manic polyglot, but their date ends in disappointment. He begins swimming at Mariana's local pool, where she meets fellow avid swimmer Rafa. They go on a date, and Mariana reacts kindly when Rafa experiences erectile dysfunction, but he ghosts her.
'''"Spring at Last"'''
Mariana reflects on the unremarkable exterior "sidewalls" of the city's buildings. Seeking change in her life, she gets a lip piercing, and she and Martín each have a new window installed in their apartments. They unknowingly look out at each other while listening to "True Love Will Find You in the End" on the radio and are both moved to tears by the ending of ''Manhattan'' on television. One evening, they connect with each other by chance in an Internet chat room, but just as Mariana asks for Martín's phone number, the city is plunged in a blackout. Buying candles at the same store in the dark, they unwittingly share a static shock before going their separate ways. Some time later, from her window, Mariana spots Martín walking his dog, wearing a red-and-white-striped sweater similar to that of ''Where's Wally?'' She conquers her fear of the elevator and races outside where they finally meet. During the closing credits, a YouTube video is shown of Martín and Mariana—now living happily together—lip-syncing to "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
==Cast== * Pilar López de Ayala as Mariana * {{ill|Javier Drolas|es}} as Martín * Inés Efron as Ana * {{ill|Rafael Ferro|es}} as Rafa * Jorge Lanata as traumatologist * Carla Peterson as Marcela * Adrián Navarro as Lucas * {{ill|Miguel Dedovich|es}} as psychiatrist * {{ill|Romina Paula|es}} as Martín's ex-girlfriend * Alan Pauls as Mariana's ex-boyfriend
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title}} * ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20200608222404/https://www.allmovie.com/movie/medianeras-v547289 Sidewalls]'' at AllMovie
Category:2011 films Category:2011 romantic comedy-drama films Category:2011 Argentine films Category:2011 German films Category:2011 Spanish films Category:2011 Spanish-language films Category:Argentine romantic comedy-drama films Category:Films about architecture Category:Films about the Internet Category:Films set in apartment buildings Category:Films set in Buenos Aires Category:Films shot in Buenos Aires Category:German romantic comedy-drama films Category:Spanish-language German films Category:Spanish romantic comedy-drama films Category:Spanish-language romantic comedy-drama films