Argentine films are Oscar winning, entertaining, thought provoking – multifaceted. While the hits of 70s were restricted to light-hearted slapstick, it was in the 1980s that Argentina began again to make movies with heart, soul, wit, and intelligence.

Spanning a range of genres, Argentine film can help you understand the complexities and attractions of the beautiful country of Argentina, the culture – and the language. Don't expect a blockbuster, all-guns-blazing spectacular. Argentine cinema goes deeper.

Watching an Argentine movie really does give you an insight into the psyche of the country's people; their hopes and dreams, their prejudices, their fears, and their dark pasts. But that doesn't mean every Argentine film should come with a history lesson and will move you to tears – some are just plain entertaining.

The last Thursday of every month from 630-830pm @ Spanish Institute in association with the Embassy of the Republic of Argentina. .

 

The Secret in Their Eyes (Spanish: El secreto de sus ojos) is a 2009 crime drama film directed by Juan José Campanella, based on the novel "La pregunta de sus ojos" by Eduardo Sacheri, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Using a nonlinear narrative, the film depicts a judiciary employee and his boss, a law clerk, in 1974, played by Ricardo Darín and Soledad Villamil, as they investigate a rape and murder case, while also following the characters 25 years later reminiscing over the case and unearthing the buried romance between them. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards and the Goya Award for Best Spanish Language Foreign Film.

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Two half brothers meet again after being reunited by their dying father. The old man entertains them with bizarre tales of his youth and makes awkward requests as his "last wishes". As if this wasn't enough to go through, both the young men are already having a hard time coping with their own lives: Felipe (Marcelo Mazzarello) is a theatre actor who is going through a horrible crisis of being thought of as "cursed" and Guillermo (Gastón Pauls) has just been dumped by his girlfriend and has to live with the drama of getting to work on time. Both are re-united by faith (suerte).

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25-Mar

The Aura (Spanish: El aura) is a 2005 Argentine neo-noir psychological thriller film directed and written by Fabián Bielinsky and starring Ricardo Darín. The plot revolves around taxidermist Esteban Espinosa, an epileptic who often fantasizes about committing the perfect crime. While hunting in Patagonia, Espinosa accidentally kills Dietrich, a guide from the area, and discovers he is in fact a criminal. This unexpectedly connects him with the chance of executing a real crime: assaulting an armored truck carrying the profits of a casino in the area. Espinosa projects into his fantasies, assembling a puzzle piece by piece, inevitably enclosing himself in it.

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At age 42, Rafael Belvedere is having a crisis. He's overwhelmed by his responsibilities and just isn't having any fun. Just when Rafael feels the most alone and unable to reach out to anyone, a series of unexpected events lead him to reevaluate his life. A minor heart attack forces him to slow down, and a reunion with Juan Carlos, a childhood friend who tries to keep a positive attitude in the wake of a personal tragedy in his own life, helps Rafael to change his life.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and won the Silver Condor for Best Film.

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Fred, a recently widowed Spaniard in his 70s who has led a quiet life, retires to an apartment in Madrid. Elsa, a similarly-aged but more colorful Argentinian and a chronic liar, is his neighbor. Fred has no significant health problems but is a hypochondriac. Elsa is seriously ill and the two fall in love. Elsa throws Fred into situations the widower would have disapproved of before he met her, making him "live life and not death". Once Fred learns Elsa will probably die, he pays all their expenses for a trip to Rome to fulfill Elsa's lifelong wish of reenacting Federico Fellini's famous scene under the Fontana di Trevi in La Dolce Vita.

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The biggest-selling local film in Argentina in 2004 and a huge hit in Spain, No Sos Vos, Soy Yo is a Woody Allen-esque comedy. Thirty-something Javier (Peretti) and his new bride Maria decide to leave Argentina for a better life in the US. She goes ahead whilst he wraps things up at home. On the brink of their reunion, Javier receives a call from Maria: she's dumped him. Homeless, unemployed, depressed, Javier moves in with his parents. In an attempt to get his life back on track he sees a shrink, buys a puppy, meets new people. Just when he thinks he's OK, he receives another shock.

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"Nine Queens" is the story of two small-time swindlers, Juan (Gastón Pauls) and Marcos (Ricardo Darín), who team up after meeting in a convenience store and become involved in a half million-dollar deal. As the deceptions and duplicity mount, it becomes more and more difficult to figure out who is conning whom, and we begin to ask ourselves, "Who isn't a thief?"

The film was nominated for 28 awards and won 21 of them, and is now considered a classic in Argentine film history.

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A unpretentious and witty fable about the nature of a solitary life, the happenstance of a needly Chinese man who speaks no Spanish all, and the hero"s sense of responsibility, under his gruff acceptance of a solitary life. It is a movie about the fact that unlikely events take place - the hero collects such material from the daily newspapers. He believes that life is absurd, till he discovers his capacity for frienhship, and, again by coincidence, love.

The film was the highest grossing non-US film in Argentina in 2011.

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Paco, so fed up with his nagging and nitpicking wife, comes up with an ingenious plan to end the unhappy union: Find her a boyfriend by hiring a professional seducer nicknamed "El Taiger" to whisk her off her feet and out of the marriage.

It was the highest grossing Argentine film in 2008. In 2009, Warner Bros. bought the rights of the film, remakes were produced in Mexico, Italy and Korea

 

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This is Ariel's world: the small, slightly seedy shopping center in downtown Buenos Aires, where the Italian shopkeepers scream all day, the Koreans sell feng-shui, Ariel's mother runs a lingerie shop... t's a comfortable little world, in spite of an undercurrent of malaise and uncertainty. Many young people are looking their immigrant roots to obtain a coveted foreign passport. Ariel, however, wants more than a passport from Poland, he wants to understand why his father left his family shortly after his birth to fight a war in Israel. But the truth changes when Ariel's father returns, he brings with him new truths, a new story and, ultimately, a long-overdue embrace.

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A task force working for the fascist Argentine military government kidnaps Claudio Tamburrini, goalkeeper and takes him to a clandestine detention center known as Sere Mansion. Claudio enters a living hell of interrogations, beatings, humiliations and betrayals. Alongside other young detainees, he battles to survive while awaiting his fate to be decided. After four months of imprisonment, with execution looking certain, Claudio and three other prisoners make their desperate move. Forcing open a window in the middle of a thunderstorm, completely naked, they jump into the void. Their flight into the future begins...

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It is the day of their wedding for Jewish-born, not religious, Adrián Hershell and Catholic-born, not that religious, Leonora Bellami. Unfortunately, the groom is not entirely sure if he really wants to give up his freedom just yet. On top of that, he realizes that he had lost the wedding rings, so he tries to get the ceremony postponed without upsetting both families. A day of chaos ensues.

 

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  • Price $00.00
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  • Award winning films
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