Thesis on a Homicide (6/10): Ricardo Darin elevates the familiar material in this atmospheric thriller

“Details. It’s all in the details.”

Fresh after the success of The Secret in Their Eyes, Ricardo Darin stars in another criminal suspense thriller that attempts to recreate that similar slow building atmosphere. Directed by Hernan Goldfrid, Thesis on a Homicide, begins with a lot of promise thanks in large part to Darin’s charismatic performance as Roberto Bermudez, a criminal law specialist who is teaching a two month course to recent graduate lawyers. He has just published a well received book in the field as well and that is how we are introduced to his character. He is an intelligent and well respected man, but his work has affected his personal life as he lives on his own after a failed marriage. He takes a particular interest in one of his students who has come from Spain and whose parents he was a close friend of. His name is Gonzalo (Alberto Ammann) and he seems to fit a particular psychological profile that troubles Roberto. He feels like Gonzalo is one of those arrogant rich kids who wants to prove he can commit the perfect murder. When a murder takes place in the parking lot of the Faculty of Law, Roberto becomes obsessed to prove that Gonzalo is behind the crime. This obsession leads him to few hours of sleep and at the same time he ends up putting Laura’s (Calu Rivero), the victim’s sister, life at risk when he uses her as bait to reach Gonzalo. This obsession gradually makes Roberto lose his mind and it becomes an interesting psychological character study building on the suspense.

The film opens with a lot of promise and I was engaged with Darin’s performance. He is one of those few actors who can turn a weak script into an interesting and compelling movie. This isn’t an intelligent thriller, but it works thanks to his lead performance. Unfortunately the build-up doesn’t fulfill its promise because the ending feels forced. The film tries to be an intelligent thriller focusing on the law system, but it never really delves deep into the subject matter and everything is slightly touched upon. The thriller never feels like it could stand out on its own because it seems to borrow heavily from other films in the genre and you can’t help but feel like you’ve seen this same plot in numerous other movies. The film does a good job at establishing the atmosphere during the first half of the film, but once the behavior of Roberto becomes overly obsessive it is apparent that each decision he makes is forced to move the story along. I felt like some of the liberties the director took with the character were too manipulative and out of character. The final fifteen minutes of the film are very disappointing in that way and everything seems rushed, which doesn’t work at all in a film that took so much time to build the atmosphere in the first place. Calu Rivero delivers an interesting performance although there isn’t much for her to do here. This is Darin’s film and he makes the screenplay work to the best of his ability, but the rest of the characters are all underdeveloped.  

I couldn’t help but feel that the cinematography was very pretentious at times. It looks good and has some interesting angles, but after a few minutes you realize there isn’t much purpose to these shots other than to show off the director’s talents. It becomes distracting at times and it really didn’t add anything to the story. There are a couple of dream sequences that didn’t work either, but I’m being a little to critical of this film because for the most part I was entertain and intrigued. The suspense works, but unfortunately the final payoff disappoints and you are left with that bittersweet taste in your mouth. When it comes to Argentinean cinema, Ricardo Darin is already involved in its most important films, but this isn’t one I’d recommend. Skip this and watch The Secret in their Eyes or Nine Queens if you haven’t had a chance to see Darin. He’s a talented actor who has refused over the past decade to work in Hollywood, but if you’ve seen Argentinean films you probably have an idea of what a great actor he is.  

Wild Tales (8/10): A Carefully Structured Black Comedy

“If poison reaches its expiration date, does that mean that it is more or less effective?”

Wild Tales (Relatos Salvages), written and directed by Damian Szifron, is Argentina’s official submission in the category of best foreign language film for next year’s Academy Awards. I find it hard to review these anthology films at times considering some of the short stories work really well while others don’t. In Wild Tales, Szifron manages to structure the film beautifully into six stories with a great sense of pacing and storytelling. The two hours flew by and I never found any of the stories tedious or boring. When making an anthology it is important that you establish an important connection between each story, and Szifron manages to do just that. Each story focuses on characters who in some way seem to lose control and act out on impulse or revenge. It’s a film about our reactions and how we can behave as animals at times. Szifron manages to set a dark tone in each of his stories while keeping the audience in suspense during some scenes and exploding in laughter during others. It is a perfect example of a dark comedy that manages to maintain the thrills throughout the narrative. Szifron plays with the genre conventions and balances the different tones of the film very well. It’s hard to point out a weak link because each story brings something different to the film, but at the same time they all feel connected. Szifron cleverly satirizes different institutions in each of his six segments including marriage, justice, bureaucracy, and social classes. Wild Tales is a well executed and entertaining film, and one that might turn out to be a contender at next year’s Oscars. 

One major issue with anthology films is that since they are separate short stories we get little time to invest in each of the characters, but somehow Szifron manages to establish each character in each scenario so well that we end up caring for them. The performances are all solid. The only familiar face in the cast is Ricardo Darin who delivers his segment extremely well. He plays a disillusioned character who is tired of the bureaucracy in his country. It doesn’t take much to see him explode and we see how one small incident escalates into an overblown reaction. As much as I enjoyed that segment, it wasn’t the most memorable one. I was a huge fan of the road rage segment, which in my opinion was the highlight of this film. Juan Pablo Colombo and Walter Donado give terrific performances as they are placed on an everyday scenario in the road which very quickly escalates into cartoonish violence. I could go on mentioning the rest of the segments, but they are all worthwhile. This was a perfectly executed black comedy and one worth checking out. 

My Review: Septimo (6/10)

"I'm your neighbor from the seventh floor. My children were coming down the stairs, and I can't find them, I don't know where they are."

Septimo is an Argentinean thriller directed by Patxi Amezcua (25 Carat) starring Ricardo Darin and Belen Rueda. Despite the interesting premise and a promising trailer, I was disappointed with the final result. The only reason I'm giving this a passing grade is because of Ricardo Darin's performance. He is one of the greatest actors from Argentina, and if you haven't seen a film from him I highly recommend The Secret in their Eyes. He is a solid performer and in this weak script he does his best to keep the audience engaged with his character. The only reason I cared for the suspense in Septimo was thanks to his character. I was disappointed with the rest of the cast, especially the child actors who are only on screen to look cute. For the first half of the film I was having a decent time and enjoying the thrilling story, but the resolution and twists in the final 20 minutes or so are very unsatisfying and far fetched. It ruined my entire perception of the film, but I'm still going to slightly recommend it thanks to Darin who always delivers. This is just another example of wasted potential and not knowing how to resolve a pretty decent suspense story. The more you think of the film, the more flaws you will find.

The original screenplay was co-written by Amezcua and Alejo Flah, centering on Sebastian (Ricardo Darin), a lawyer who is currently working on an important case for his firm. Before heading to the office he stops by his ex-wife's (Belen Rueda) apartment to take his two children to school. Delia mentions that she wants to take the kids to live with her in Spain, but he doesn't want them to be so far away. Since the kids live in the seventh floor they ask their father if they can race him down the stairs while he takes the elevator. This is a game they usually play together, but this time the kids never make it downstairs. At first Sebastian thinks the kids are hiding, but they never show up and the building's doorman (Luis Ziembrowski) says that no one came in or out of the building. Sebastian's worst nightmare comes true when he goes up the stairs and doesn't find any evidence of his children's whereabouts. He begins questioning each one of his neighbors, while the doorman explains the situation to a deputy who lives in the third floor. The deputy (Osvaldo Santoro) tells Sebastian that he should remain calm, that they are probably dealing with a kidnapping, but that the police was already investigating the case. Sebastian finally explains the situation to Delia and as time passes the more desperate they become questioning everyone close to them.

The first half of the film managed to keep me interested in the story despite not much character development. The suspense of what had happened to the children was what kept me engaged, but once we got the resolutions and twists it was hard to feel satisfied. Ricardo Darin has played some great roles in films like 9 Queens, The Secret in Their Eyes, and A Chinese Tale, but in The 7th Floor there isn't much he can do. This will probably be one of his most forgettable roles, but he still gives a convincing dramatic performance of a desperate father trying to figure out what happened to his children. He stops at nothing to discover the truth, but unfortunately the truth about this film is full of flaws. The positives about Septimo are Darin's lead performance and the beautiful cinematography which captures some nice views of the city of Buenos Aires. The rest of the film is forgettable. 

My Review: Un Cuento Chino (8/10)

¨I`ve got a Chinese guy living in my house who doesn`t speak a word of Spanish.¨

Ricardo Darín has starred in two of my favorite Argentine films: El Secreto de Sus Ojos and Nueve Reinas. Darín is a great actor and he has proved he can do very different roles and manage them well. In this film he plays a quiet grumpy and lonely man whose life turns around when an unexpected visitor changes his every day routine. Un Cuento Chino was written and directed by Sebastian Borensztein, a director I wasn’t familiar with until now. He has made a well crafted film by mixing the right amount of comedy with drama. The movie shines thanks to the original script and Darín`s performance, along with two good supporting performances from unknown actors Muriel Santa Ana and Ignacio Huang. The film claims to be based on a true story, but actually it is just loosely based on an unexpected incident which had to do with a cow falling from the sky and sinking a Japanese ship. This story actually begins with a Chinese couple in a River who are interrupted when a cow falls from the sky. From that moment on you know that you are in for a very different movie, but there is a perfect explanation for the event. The cow falling from the sky is the only true event about this movie which is a fictionalization about a relationship between this lonely man played by Ricardo Darín and a Chinese immigrant in Argentina. Their failure to communicate is what makes this film so funny.

Roberto (Ricardo Darin) is a hardware store owner who lives on his own in the city of Buenos Aires. He is very grumpy and always complaining, but also seems to live a very quiet and routine life. His house is behind the store so he spends most of his time indoors keeping to his self and collecting newspaper clips of bizarre and rare stories in order to prove that life is meaningless. He goes to bed exactly at 11pm and wakes up the next morning to the same breakfast: coffee and bread. He seems comfortable living on his own. He seems to have had a short relationship with the sister in law of the person who always brings him the international newspapers. Her name is Mari (Muriel Santa Ana) and she lives in the countryside far from Buenos Aires, but happens to be visiting again and is very much in love with Roberto. His life changes when he runs into a Chinese immigrant named Jun (Ignacio Huang) who is thrown out of a cab after being mugged. Jun has nowhere to go and doesn’t speak Spanish so Roberto decides to help him. He takes Jun to the address he has tattooed on his arm, but the person living there claims that a Chinese man sold the house to him several years ago. Roberto takes Jun to the Chinese Embassy where Jun can finally communicate his intentions: He has come to Argentina to find his uncle since he is the only family he has left. Despite the inconvenience Roberto decides to take Jun in for a few days until his uncle shows up. This will change Roberto`s routine and affect his life.

Darin`s character might be grumpy and mean, but he is also nice and has a big enough heart to accommodate a foreigner into his home. He will never expect how this relationship will dramatically change his life, but this relationship is exactly what makes the story work. There are other funny moments like some of the paper clips that Roberto finds and how he recreates those bizarre events in his mind, but the center of the story revolves around him, Jun, and Mari. The story moves slow at times, but it works really well because it shows us exactly how Roberto lived before Jun shows up. Once Jun is with Roberto everything changes and that is what makes for the funniest moments. Un Cuento Chino is a very rare film, but a good one with memorable characters and an unlikely pairing between Darin and Huang that works really well. The film has a feel good feeling to it and once the credits begin to role it`s impossible not to leave with a smile in your face. I absolutely recommend this movie which won Best Argentine Film and the Goya for Best Iberoamerican Film in 2011.

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My Review: El Secreto de Sus Ojos (9/10)

¨There is a lot of things that a man can change his mind about, but never his passion¨

(9/10)El Secreto de Sus Ojos, which translated means The Secret in Their Eyes, is an Argentinean film that has recently been nominated for an Oscar in the best foreign movie category. Juan Jose Campanella (who also directed Luna de Avellaneda and El Hijo de la Novia, along with many Law and Order and House MD television episodes) directs this thriller which has been a box office hit in Argentina. It has also received a lot of critical acclaim because of the way the story is told in non-linear form and it also has some great performances from the entire cast; but what makes this movie so much better is the clever ending because in order for a thriller to work you need to have a decent ending and this movie has a great one. The entire build up to the finale is just sensational and the movie doesn´t drag for one minute during the entire two hours the movie lasts. It mixes romance with action and drama with suspense and balances them all very well. There is one specific action scene in a soccer stadium where a chase takes place that is just breathtaking. I haven`t seen an Argentinean movie so good since Nueve Reinas (Nine Queens). This movie is very clever and I recommend you seeing it in its original language (Spanish) because the performances are so good and the dialogues are so real (If you`ve been to Argentina you know most of the conversations take place in the exact same manner, it just has a very authentic feel to it).

The movie takes place in 1999 and we are introduced to Benjamin Esposito, played by the very famous Argentinean actor Ricardo Darin (Nueve Reinas, El Hijo de La Novia, and El Aura). He is a retired federal justice agent who is trying to write a novel during his free time about a case that happened 25 years ago and that dramatically changed his life. He decides to visit his ex coworker Irene Menendez-Hastings, played by Soledad Villamil (No Sos Vos, Soy Yo) and tells her about his plans. Both of them get together and discuss about the Morales case which occurred in 1974. The movie is non linear because while Benjamin writes the story we are transported to the past and we experience it while it is actually happening. He is working at the federal agency and Irene has just been introduced to them as the new chief of the department. His co worker and best friend is Pablo Sandoval, played by the extremely funny Guillermo Francella (Rudo y Cursi). One of the first cases they have to take with Irene as their boss is a difficult one in which a young woman has been brutally raped and murdered at her home. They inform the newly widowed husband, Ricardo Morales played by Pablo Rago, about the terrible news. He is devastated and Benjamin is so stunned about the way that this man loved his wife (he later tells Irene that he has never seen so much love through the eyes of someone) that he promises to help him catch the killer. After viewing some photographs of the victim`s past he finds a suspect, a childhood friend of hers named Isidro Gomez, played by Javier Godino (Deception and Kisses For Everyone). The chase begins and the movie develops from this point on jumping from 1974 to 1999 as Benjamin is writing the novel and trying to close a case that has been left open for more than 25 years.

El Secreto de Sus Ojos is a great movie which will have you at the edge of your seat at some moments and laughing your heart out at others. It also has some romance due to the interrupted love between Benjamin and Irene, so it is a movie that everyone can enjoy. It is a great story and Juan Jose Campanella does a great job of jumping back and forth during the movie in order to keep the audience`s attention. The tension grows as the minutes pass and the mystery isn`t entirely solved until the very end. I found the ending to be very clever and quite original because without a good ending this movie could have been easily forgotten. The true heart of this film is the story which has been adapted from the novel La Pregunta de Sus Ojos by Eduardo Sacheri, and the way in which the director is able to put all the pieces together in the movie. The acting in this movie is also superb. Ricardo Darin is great and Soledad Villamil also gives a good performance, but it is Guillermo Francella who really steals every single scene he is in. He is extremely funny and I think his performance is one of the best I`ve seen this year, his character just fit him perfectly. This is a great film and well deserving of an Oscar although I haven´t seen the other movies that are competing in this category. Whether it wins or not, this is a movie you won`t want to miss.