FILM SYNOPSIS:

Following on his highly acclaimed 2008 Lion’s Den one of Argentina’s most talented filmmakers returns with a story drawn from the alarming violence on his country’s street.  In Argentina over 8,000 people die in traffic accidents every year. Behind each of these tragedies is a flourishing industry founded on insurance payouts and legal loopholes.

Sosa (Ricardo Darin) is a lawyer who tours the A&E Departments of the public hospitals and the police stations in search of potential clients. Luján (Martina Gusman) is a young doctor recently arrived from the provinces. Tired and sickened by his work, Sosa is eager to attain his license to practice law. His new relationship with Lujan seems to signal a brighter future, but the walls of corruption-reinforced by the doctors, lawyers and policemen who serve to protect a system – present a seemingly insurmountable barrier.

The film is so solid that any room for ambiguity is left out of the digital masonry of the mise-en-scène, which builds a clear schema where, simply, any one involved in the nocturnal world of deaths and near-deaths, accidents and “incidents” is implicated in the gloom, no questions asked.  Gusman and Darin deliver powerful performances in Trapero’s visceral and packed with complicated moral questions classic noir film.

DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY:

Pablo Trapero was born in San Justo, Argentina. He wrote, directed and edited the short films Mocoso Malcriado (93) and Negocios (95) before directing his feature debut, the award-winning Crane World (99). He is regarded as one of contemporary Argentina’s most important and influential filmmakers, and has produced films by Lisandro Alonso, Enrique Bellande and Raul Perrone. His other features as director include Rolling Family (04), Born and Bred (06), Lion’s Den (08) and Carancho (10).