"Sidewalls" is an Argentinian film
written and directed by Gustavo Taretto. It is a story of a man called Martin
and a woman called Mariana who live in the same street, in the capital city of
Buenos Aries, but they don’t know each other. Both characters present the same
characteristics, they are lonely, phobic and disappointed about life. Although
they try really hard to overcome that situation by meeting new people or practising
new activities, finally, they end up alone again. Along the movie it is
possible to realize that Martin and Mariana share many things in common and, by
chance, they face each other on the street.
The turning point in the movie starts when they
decide to build a window on the sidewall of their apartment. For many people a
new window may be a meaningless thing, however, for Martin and Mariana this is
a window for new opportunities. Their new window show them that there is other
side of the coin with new possibilities to change their lives. By the end of
the film and once they have overcome their fears and problems they, finally,
met and became a couple. The symbolic meaning of sidewalls in this film implies
the individuality and isolation in which people are living and also make them unable
to move forward.