Reno Rangan
It's right to say based on the real than a biopic, because it is not the film about the family who we inspire from their act. This is a crime-thriller-drama sets in the early 80s, Argentina, when democracy was restored in the nation. Focused on to tell a story of a middle class family called Puccios. It's a big family, but what they did were inhumane thing. Kidnapping people for ransom money, but in the end, there's no smooth trade off. How long they go for it and how it all ends comes in the latter parts.It was the Argentina's entry to the last year's Oscars. That's really a worst decision ever. Also it the highest grossed film in the domestic circuit. No doubt the film was well made, especially the director who also managed well with the screenplay. This film can be watched to know the truth and nothing else, because of the negative message it carries. Nearly 100 minutes long, full of dark atmosphere, but among it there was a little romance. The actors did good, despite they were in the negative roles.There are plenty of films with the dark tone, which are very enjoyable despite the film characters involved in the wrongful acts. Sometimes we root for them, it might be a robbery or a revenge theme. But there comes a time when I hesitate to encourage such films, mainly because of its serious portrayal. Makes me to think only sick people would enjoy such films. It happened recently for a Chilean film 'The Club' that I felt disgust.I appreciate the filmmaking, but I feel this better should have been a documentary film. Anyway, that's my view. It was one side narration, covered everything from the family angle. But if it was told how the cops or the victim families coped would have made totally a different film. Then I might have liked it. So overall this film was okay, I'm not in its favor though.6/10
santiagocosme
I was so excited when I heard this movie was released in Argentina that the anticipation to watch it felt like watching the final of the World Cup. And, as it also so often happens with World Cup finals, the movie was disappointing. I am not sure where and why it failed to capture my attention, but I just know that even though the story has potential, the movie is directed in a way that feels rather boring. I know that El Clan has become the most successful movie in Argentinian history, but it is a title it does not deserve. The movie is very average and possibly only matters because it is based on true events that caused a stir not that many years ago. For lovers of real event movies.
David Ferguson
Greetings again from the darkness. It seems inherent within human nature for kids to want to make their parents happy and proud. Most of the time the reverse is also true: the majority of parents want to be good role models for their kids. However, when the latter is not true, things can get pretty ugly
even frightening. Such is the case with the real life story of the Puccio family in Argentina.Acclaimed Argentinean director Pablo Trapero (Carancho, 2010) gives us a look at the Puccio crime family, and in the process draws parallels between the political turmoil and re-structuring of Argentina as it returned to a democracy in the early 1980's.The façade of the happy family makes for perfect public cover as horrendous crimes are perpetuated
often in the basement of the family home. Arquimedes (Guillermo Francella, The Secret in Their Eyes 2009) is the father who often seizes on the celebrity of his rugby star son Alex/Alejandro (Peter Lanzani) to catch their victims off-guard. The family Modus Operandi is pretty simple: kidnap-collect ransom- kill. Arquimedes was known for his hospitality, often offering home-cooked meals to the victims as they were chained in the family basement. Quite a contrast to the brutality involved in the crimes.The film raises many questions, and makes us wonder where the line of guilt is drawn between committing a crime, and simply looking the other way. It's presented as if Alex felt compelled to support his father's endeavors even though it caused major internal struggles for him. Certainly the mother/wife (an excellent Lili Popovich) made the conscious decision to do what was necessary. It's especially unsettling to see Arquimedes helping his daughter with her school work, while the most recent victim is shackled in the cellar.As Argentina's Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language film, it didn't make the final cut, but it's absolutely at the level of the five nominated films. Fans of Scorcese and Coppola crime films will see the influences, and the film rates with such crime gems as A Prophet (2009) and Animal Kingdom (2010).
Cinefill1
-The Clan (Spanish: El Clan) is a 2015 Argentine crime film directed by Pablo Trapero. It was selected to be screened in the main competition section of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival where director Pablo Trapero won the Silver Lion. The film was selected as the Argentine entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.--Reception: -The film opened in Argentina on 13 August 2015 to generally positive reviews. It had the largest opening weekend of any Argentinean film in history, with a box office total of 32 million pesos and 505,000 tickets sold between opening Thursday and Sunday, representing 53% of all cinema-goers, seven times more than the second most viewed film, Ted 2. This surpassed the previous record of the 2014 film Wild Tales. According to BBC News, 1.5 million people saw the film in its first two weeks of release.-The film was screened at the Venice Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival in September 2015. Both Variety and The Hollywood Reporter singled out the arresting sound track in their reviews; Variety called the choice of music "among the film's most unnerving strategies, reminiscent of Spike Lee's Summer of Sam, in which celebratory pop tunes evoke the era even as they practically serve to encourage the horrors depicted on screen"; The Hollywood Reporter noted that the "loud, upbeat songs ... provide a counterpoint ... (suggesting) how kidnapping became simply a part of life for the Puccios. It's never clearer than in a daring montage sequence that matches Monica's cries of ecstasy during a bout of lovemaking with the cries for help of a kidnapping victim in the family's home. For these folks, there seems to be a mighty fine line between love and cruelty".-The success of the film led to a TV series that is also focused on the Puccio family, Historia de un clan, starring Alejandro Awada.
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