I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

"The Cinema is not a collection of cards, a collection of data" is the answer given to the question from A Useful Life's central character Jorge presented, what audiences should see when they are active spectators? It is a comment with breaks down the forth wall and confronts us as spectators that we must see A Useful Life and other films at a deeper level. With A Useful Life, Federico Veiroj makes this point significantly clear whilst defiantly offering his appreciation of cinema as an art form.Primarily Veiroj makes this point through Jorge, a dedicated cinephile whose seems to be the dual representation of the silent film picture house he works for. It is Jorge who articulates the tragedy A Useful Life shows in cinema as a true art form deteriorating from the pressures of commercialism. Understand the continuing context of commercialism vs art which conveys Jorge as the tragic figure in this scene, stood alone next to a projector witnessing what he sees as visual art whilst external influences see it as uneconomic, makes A Useful Life prominent as cultural commentary. Veiroj's drive to expose the counter argument of cinema as worthy art as deep - seeded immorality comes to ahead when Jorge briefly pretends to be a Law expert, explaining to a group of students the skill of lying is mastered in society to the point of perfection, regularly used to unjustifiably bring down others. Some could simply see this scene as Jorge embittered by the fate of his beloved picture house but Jorge was having a moment of clarity which perfectly personified Veiroj's intentions.Being true to the displayed cultural beliefs in dialogue were also applied to A Useful Life's micro style. Presented in black and white is an ever affective technique in adding to the dreary tone of Jorge's predicament. Also the framing of specific scenes creating a sense of isolation within Jorge, an outcast figure socially and culturally attempting to get by. A Useful Life both aesthetically and contextually beholds what cinema at heart should be, producing art which spectators can emotionally invest in rather than profit which in today's climate is falling under as Jorge did.

To elaborate on my title, it's about people who actually live in the cinema. People who believe in the sanctity of "good lies". I saw this film today in the Jerusalem Film Pestival, it's worthy of 8.5 but I have to keep my rating in natural numbers. It's worthy of 8.5 because the director is worthy of 9 at least, his control over the language of cinema is obvious from each and every frame, he uses here a non actor in the lead, with almost no facial expressions and still gets a 100% credible performance out of him, and his use of camera angles, zooms and the rest of the arsenal the art of cinema offers him, is simply outstanding. Notice that though the whole first half of the film takes place inside the cinematheque, we don't get to see a single frame of actual movie, we do get to see some titles. this could have something to do with distribution rights but it works here to perfection, because cinema is not the issue, but that's was said already, and to say more I'd have to go into specific details - I don't do that.Just go see it if you have the opportunity.

The first time I saw ''A useful life'' was in a special screening for a group of old critics and journalists. It was in a little theater on a early afternoon. I must confess that I'm a film addicted, however I felt like an alien among all these people who knows film better than me. "A useful life" starts as a old comedy. When Jorge appears using old fashioned technologies, I couldn't contain my laugh because it remind me people and institutions I know in many countries who use audio or video- cassettes tapes and others obsolete media ways to do things, it woke me up tenderness. In the year of 2010 Jorge and his Cinematheque represents an obsolete way of living however it is a real way in many parts of the world. A old fashioned cinema world into the real world, "A Useful Life'' smells this contradiction showing us this bizarre way of living, and reflected warmly. I remembered other films of cinema within the cinema: Cinema Paradise, The Purple Rose of Cairo and my favorite B&W movie: Sunset Boulevard. "A useful life" takes part of this great films list, irony, humor, beauty, and an unusual ending, I like these type of movies. When the film reach its turning point and Jorge starts out his new way of life I felt the energy and enthusiastic expressions of the public, it was incredible! we were happy knowing that he and his way of living can survive, it was a common feeling in the room: cinema can be safe. To people like me, theater, B&W movies, Cinematheques, and movies like "A useful life" cannot disappear, neither dinosaurs.

Profused with South American melancholia, the setup for this short film is a club dedicated to 'classical' film, with radio lectures on Eisenstein and live, in-theater translations (into Spanish), of classics, Von Stroheim's 'Greed,' for example. With the demise of the club, after some 20 years, the somber yet not unattractive manager must face his own options. And, as he steps out, he creates his own film. The irony in the picture is expressed in an amazing 'spontaneous' lecture the manager gives to a classroom of law students, opportunistically posing as their substitute professor. He touches on the ubiquity of illusion and 'lying' in life-- 'reality' vrs. metaphor, or in this case, film. The character of the manager is no Astaire when he dances, and there's no Minnelli behind the camera, but we get the picture, and when he connects with the girl, he goes to the movies. A reference in the credits to Mark Twain as the inspiration for the work; the minimalist writing and direction stay focused, the editing is good and the film stays with you. Worth seeing.