Cast: Ricardo Darín, Martina Gusman, Carlos Weber
Luján is an overworked, dope-addict emergency medic who seems to spend her every waking hour chasing down traffic accidents in Buenos Aires. Such accidents in the Argentinean capital occur with horrific regularity; and while this tragic failure of the system tears families apart, it is also good news for the ‘vulture’ lawyers who take the insurance companies to the cleaners and hide the profits from the victims’ families. Luján meets just such a lawyer at the scene of a crash that he just happens to have witnessed. Sosa has created a name for himself at his fleapit law company for literally chasing ambulances around the city, and occasionally even paying homeless people to jump in front of vehicles; but as soon as he sets eyes on Luján he seems eager to bury this embarrassing lifestyle and prove himself to this enchanting melancholy beauty.
Unfortunately – as ‘Carlito’s Way’ taught us – escaping from a criminal underworld is no easy task. The acting head of the law firm, realising he has been double-crossed, attacks Luján at work; and in return, Sosa slowly and methodically beats him to death. There is no turning back for Sosa and Luján, who are forced to take unspeakable measures to escape from this sordid world.
Pablo Trapero’s stunning and violent film possesses that uniquely South American ability to combine searing social commentary with energetic and powerful filmmaking. As with so many great crime stories, this is a story that takes place at night, when the middle-classes are asleep and the criminals and emergency medics emerge to do battle once more. Buenos Aires appears as some crumbling, nightmare world, where flashes and eruptions punctuate the brooding darkness. Through this nightmare world, our heroes fight, back to back, with only their passion for one another helping them through. It is a romantic and visceral noir story that is unparalleled at the festival.
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