El Bonaerense
Encyclopedia
El bonaerense is an Argentine
, Chilean
, French
, and Dutch
drama film
. It was directed and produced by Pablo Trapero
. The screenplay was a joint effort of Nicolas Gueilburt, Ricardo Ragendorfer, Dodi Shoeuer, Pablo Trapero, and actor Daniel Valenzuela
, and partly funded by INCAA
. It features Jorge Román
, Mimí Ardú, among others.
The movie deals with the corruption of the Bonaerense Police
in the Buenos Aires Province
, Argentina
, and the lives of those involved in it.
Zapa (Jorge Román
) is a locksmith apprentice living the simple life in Corrientes
with his family.
After the locksmith Polaco (Hugo Anganuzzi) pulls a job on a safe and uses him as a scapegoat, Zapa is made to pay for the crime by serving in the Buenos Aires police jail, which is pictured as notoriously corrupt. This takes him to the La Matanza
barrio
in Greater Buenos Aires
.
Here, Zapa is taken in as the protegé of his superior Gallo (Darío Levy) and begins to climb the ladder of corruption. At the same time he has an affair with instructor Mabel (Mimí Ardú).
His journey through the political underworld as he frames and bribes ultimately takes him to the edge of innocence, and a final confrontation with El Polaco.
on May 21 in the Un Certain Regard
section. It opened in Argentina on September 19, 2002.
The picture was screened at various film festivals, including: the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Czech Republic
; the Toronto Film Festival, Canada
; the Chicago International Film Festival
, USA; the Bergen International Film Festival
, Norway
; the Stockholm International Film, Sweden
; and others.
film critic Stephen Holden
lauded the film and wrote, "There are no crusading moralists to clean up the mess in El Bonaerense, Pablo Trapero's grim, dispassionate drama of police corruption, set mostly in contemporary Buenos Aires. This powerful sweat-stained swatch of Argentine neo-realism, filmed in harsh high contrast that throws its characters' faces into deep shadow, follows the initiation of Zapa (Jorge Román), a naïve police recruit, into a labyrinth of sleaze...[the film] is all the more disturbing for refusing to act as an exposé. It just throws up its hands and says that this is the way it is. And its pointed detachment lends certain scenes an almost farcical sense of the absurd."
Nominations
Cinema of Argentina
The cinema of Argentina has a tradition dating back to the late nineteenth century, and continues to play a role in the culture of Argentina....
, Chilean
Cinema of Chile
The cinema of Chile began when the earliest films were made there in the first decade of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, it was not until the 1970s when the cinematic culture there developed, with the foundation of a national cinema and a department of experimental film at the University of...
, French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
. It was directed and produced by Pablo Trapero
Pablo Trapero
Pablo Trapero is an Argentine film producer, editor and director.His films are known for portraying the lives of ordinary people, and usually involving some form of social criticism to modern society, such as his movie Mundo Grúa , or the highly-acclaimed El...
. The screenplay was a joint effort of Nicolas Gueilburt, Ricardo Ragendorfer, Dodi Shoeuer, Pablo Trapero, and actor Daniel Valenzuela
Daniel Valenzuela
Daniel Valenzuela , is a prolific film and television actor. He has also done some screenplay writing. He works in the cinema of Argentina....
, and partly funded by INCAA
INCAA
The National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts is an Argentine government film production company in Buenos Aires. It promotes the Argentine film industry by funding qualified Argentine film production companies.-Ratings:...
. It features Jorge Román
Jorge Román
Jorge Román is a film and television actor. He works in the cinema of Argentina.-Filmography:* Sol de otoño aka Autumn Sun* Cenizas del paraíso aka Ashes from Paradise...
, Mimí Ardú, among others.
The movie deals with the corruption of the Bonaerense Police
Buenos Aires Provincial Police
The Buenos Aires Provincial Police is the police service responsible for policing the Province of Buenos Aires, in Argentina....
in the Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, and the lives of those involved in it.
Plot
Jorge Román
Jorge Román is a film and television actor. He works in the cinema of Argentina.-Filmography:* Sol de otoño aka Autumn Sun* Cenizas del paraíso aka Ashes from Paradise...
) is a locksmith apprentice living the simple life in Corrientes
Corrientes
Corrientes is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12...
with his family.
After the locksmith Polaco (Hugo Anganuzzi) pulls a job on a safe and uses him as a scapegoat, Zapa is made to pay for the crime by serving in the Buenos Aires police jail, which is pictured as notoriously corrupt. This takes him to the La Matanza
La Matanza Partido
La Matanza is a partido located in the Greater Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires Province in Argentina....
barrio
Barrio
Barrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...
in Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires is the generic denomination to refer to the megalopolis comprising the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and the conurbation around it, over the province of Buenos Aires—namely the adjacent 24 partidos or municipalities—which nonetheless do not constitute a single administrative...
.
Here, Zapa is taken in as the protegé of his superior Gallo (Darío Levy) and begins to climb the ladder of corruption. At the same time he has an affair with instructor Mabel (Mimí Ardú).
His journey through the political underworld as he frames and bribes ultimately takes him to the edge of innocence, and a final confrontation with El Polaco.
Cast
- Jorge RománJorge RománJorge Román is a film and television actor. He works in the cinema of Argentina.-Filmography:* Sol de otoño aka Autumn Sun* Cenizas del paraíso aka Ashes from Paradise...
as Zapa - Mimí Ardú as Mabel
- Darío Levy as Gallo
- Víctor Hugo Carrizo as Molinari
- Hugo Anganuzzi as Polaco
- Graciana ChironiGraciana ChironiGraciana Abraciano de Chironi is a film actor.Chironi is the grandmother of well-known Argentine director Pablo Trapero.She works in the cinema of Argentina.-Filmography:* Negocios * Mundo grúa aka Crane World...
as Zapa's Mother - Luis Viscat as Pellegrino
- Roberto Posse as Ismael
- Aníbal Barengo as Caneva
- Lucas Olivera as Abdala
- Gastón Polo as Lanza
- Jorge Luis Giménez as Berti
Distribution
The film was first presented at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival2002 Cannes Film Festival
The 2002 Cannes Film Festival started on 15 May and ran until 26 May. The Palme d'Or went to the Polish-French-German-British co-produced film The Pianist directed by Roman Polanski.-Jury:* David Lynch * Sharon Stone* Michelle Yeoh...
on May 21 in the Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
section. It opened in Argentina on September 19, 2002.
The picture was screened at various film festivals, including: the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
; the Toronto Film Festival, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
; the Chicago International Film Festival
Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America....
, USA; the Bergen International Film Festival
Bergen International Film Festival
The Bergen International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in October in Bergen, Norway since 2000, and is the largest film festival in the nation in number of films. The 11th edition of the festival in 2010 featured 150 films in the program, a new record...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
; the Stockholm International Film, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
; and others.
Critical response
New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
film critic Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
lauded the film and wrote, "There are no crusading moralists to clean up the mess in El Bonaerense, Pablo Trapero's grim, dispassionate drama of police corruption, set mostly in contemporary Buenos Aires. This powerful sweat-stained swatch of Argentine neo-realism, filmed in harsh high contrast that throws its characters' faces into deep shadow, follows the initiation of Zapa (Jorge Román), a naïve police recruit, into a labyrinth of sleaze...[the film] is all the more disturbing for refusing to act as an exposé. It just throws up its hands and says that this is the way it is. And its pointed detachment lends certain scenes an almost farcical sense of the absurd."
Awards
Wins- Chicago International Film FestivalChicago International Film FestivalThe Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America....
: FIPRESCIFIPRESCIThe International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
Prize, Pablo Trapero; for the uncompromising and raw depiction of the journey of a man lost in a society without values; 2002. - Guadalajara Mexican Film Festival: Mayahuel Award, Best Film - Ibero-American Jury, Pablo Trapero; 2003.
- Lima Latin American Film Festival: Best Screenplay, Pablo Trapero; 2003.
- Lleida Latin-American Film FestivalLleida Latin-American Film FestivalThe Lleida Latin-American Film Festival is a cinema festival that takes place in Lleida, Spain awarding Latin American films. It is organised by the Latin American Centre of Lleida and is sponsored by the city council , the University of Lleida and La Caixa...
: Best Film, Pablo Trapero; 2003. - Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor; Best Editing, Nicolas Goldbart; Best New Actress, Mimí Ardú; 2003.
Nominations
- Thessaloniki Film Festival: Golden Alexander, Pablo Trapero; 2002.
- Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor, Best Art Direction, Sebastián Roses; Best Cinematography, Guillermo Nieto; Best Director, Pablo Trapero; Best Film; Best New Actor, Jorge Román; Best Original Screenplay, Pablo Trapero; Best Sound, Catriel Vildosola; Best Supporting Actress, Mimí Ardú; 2003.
- Cartagena Film FestivalCartagena Film FestivalThe Cartagena Film Festival, or Festival Internacional de Cine y T.V. de Cartagena de Indias. is a Colombian film festival which focuses on the promotion of Colombian television programs, Latin American films, and videos...
: Golden India Catalina, Best Film, Pablo Trapero; 2004.
External links
- El bonaerense at the cinenacional.comCinenacional.comCinenacional.com is a web portal and web-based database about Argentine cinema.The site provides a vast array of information, including: films, television programs, directors, actors, cinematographers, film editors, production designers, and other production professions in Argentina...
- El bonaerense film
- El bonaerense review at Cineismo by Guillermo Ravaschino