Episode Details

Odd Number (Spanish: La cifra impar) (1962/Argentina; 85 min., b&w, sound). Dir. Manuel Antin. Cast: Lautaro Murúa, María Rosa Gallo. An Argentinean couple living in Paris receive a letter from the man's mother, in which she gives them regards from his brother. Confusion arises, as the couple know the brother to have died from an illness (IMDB).

On this episode of Cinema Then, Cinema Now, Professor Jerry Carlson (College of Staten Island) sits down with Gregory Rabassa (CUNY Queens College) and Gene Bell-Villada (Williams College) to discuss Manuel Antin's Odd Number (1962).

Other topics of discussion include
"Cartas de mamá", the Julio Cotázar story that serves as the basis for the film.
Cortázar's other works, such as Hopscotch.
European atonal music in the soundtrack.
Literary traditions of realism and magical realism in Latin America

Recorded on May 14th, 1990 at the Borough Manhattan Community College Media Center.

This program was digitized, captioned, and made accessible in 2021 as part of "Uncovering CUNY'S Audiovisual Heritage," a preservation project funded by Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR).