It only took a viewing of _Breve cielo_ (1969) to make me a fan of David José Kohon. After seeing that brilliant and poignant picture, I began to watch his other films, and saved _Tres veces Ana_ for last. Now that I've seen all of his movies, I feel a certain sadness, knowing that there aren't any more, but already I look forward to the experience of watching them again.
The film consists of three independent episodes about three different women named Ana, all of them played by María Vaner. In "La tierra," Juan (Luis Medina Castro) meets Ana Ruiz--a toy store clerk and a student--as a result of a wager between friends. Love blossoms between them, but complications soon arise. Will things work out for them? The Ana of "El aire" is quite different: shallow and promiscuous. She meets Raúl (Alberto Argibay), a doctoral student, who briefly tries to show her that her ways are immature. "La nube," finally, focuses on "Monito" Riglos (Walter Vidarte), a simple and lonely man who works at a newspaper. His life changes when, as he waits for the bus, he spots a girl looking out of a window. It is the third Ana, about whom he beings to have increasingly vivid fantasies.
Like the characters in Kohon's first feature film, _Prisioneros de una noche_ (1960), the man and the woman in "La tierra" are slightly older versions of Delia and Paquito, from _Breve cielo_. If the latter are on the brink of losing their innocence, Ana and Juan have already been expelled from the Garden of Eden, though they may still find a kind of happiness. "El aire," which takes place at the beach, is the shortest and the weakest segment. More than a story in itself, it is a character study. Walter Vidarte's role in "La nube" is similar to the one he would go on to play for Leonardo Favio in the haunting _El dependiente_ (1969). The segment represents a departure from Kohon's typical realism. This incursion into fantasy prefigures the director's last two films, _¿Qué es el otoño?_ (1977) and (especially) _El agujero en la pared_ (1982). Some may argue, though, that all three Anas are manifestations of the fantasies (the fears, the anxieties) of the male characters.
Kohon's second feature film, _Tres veces Ana_ was nevertheless released before his first film. Like _Breve cielo_, this film is almost flawless. While I'm still partial to _Breve cielo_, I gave the same rating to both films, but I recognize that _Tres veces Ana_ is much more complex, and perhaps more mature than the later picture. Either one of these films is, in any case, worthy of being regarded as Kohon's masterpiece.
David José Kohon may well be my favorite Argentinean filmmaker. Watching his films has been an amazing journey through time and space, and it was such a pleasant adventure that I decided to review every one of his motion pictures. None of them have disappointed me, and even his weakest effort, _Con alma y vida_ (1970), is worth checking out. Thank you, David José Kohon, for letting me go back to my dear Buenos Aires.
