'Embrace': A Charming Search For Self

Set in a shabby Buenos Aires shopping mall populated by an assortment of endearingly odd ducks, Argentine filmmaker Daniel Burman's shaky-camera, cinema-verite-style dramedy meanders in charming fashion from store to store, even as it makes clear that its central focus is the anomie-afflicted son (Daniel Hendler) of a lingerie shop proprietor (Adriana Aizemberg) and his search for -- well, that's a little less clear. Meaning? Identity? Love? Roots? A career?

One thing the son, Ariel, is looking for, beyond a job as assistant thong salesman and a hobby as the occasional lover of the mysterious woman from the Internet service shop across the way (Silvina Bosco), is a deeper connection with his past. Hence Ariel's obsession with becoming "European," a quest involving his Polish Jewish grandmother (Rosita Londner) and some lost documents.

But, as the film's title implies, much more is missing from Ariel's life than some old passports and immigration papers. That would mainly be Ariel's father, Elias (Jorge D'Elia), a man who left his family 15 years ago for Israel, yet whose memory and ghostlike presence persist, even in the name of the lingerie boutique: Creations by Elias. It's a none-too-subtle reminder of just how important and how enduring the father-son bond can be, as well as a foreshadowing of the film's denouement, which ultimately has less to do with Ariel's escape from stultifying external conditions as it does with his discovery of -- and reconnection to -- a vital part of himself.

Lost Embrace (Unrated, 100 minutes) -- Contains obscenity, shots of a circumcision, discussion of sex and sensuality. In Spanish with subtitles. At the Avalon.