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A Singular Crime

I've had a soft spot for Argentina for a long time, maybe it began with Maradona, and this has bled into their filmic output. There's a real grubby energy in those Buenos Aires streets, or the dusty landscapes surrounding the cities. At least, this is how it comes across, I've never been there myself. Of course, there's an added political angle in many of the Argentinian films I've seen, and this one is no different.

The original Spanish title is Un Crimen Argentino (An Argentinian Crime in English) - odd that they've found the need to change it for us. Anyway, this is based on actual events in Rosario in December 1980 - it kicks off the day after the murder of John Lennon - when a feckless salesman goes missing. Two court clerks are given the case (the role of criminal investigation is slightly confusing in Argentina), putting them, and their boss, Judge Suarez, in the sights of the police/military goons with their 'anti-justice' mentality.

Nicolás Francella and Matías Mayer play partners Antonio and Carlos with mustachioed insouciance - Francella seems to be channelling Nic Cage's H. I. McDonnaugh from Raising Arizona (in fact, Francella actually sits in that uncanny valley between Cage and Jason Schwartzman). The rest of the cast heaves with endearingly sloppy, crumpled geezers, both just and unjust, and it's a bit of a happy jolt when one of the female characters shows up on screen - Malena Sanchez as the judge's niece and girlfriend of Antonio, Maria; and Rita Cortese as the forensic expert, Gobbi. Cortese gets the best scenes, especially when the lads need their heads knocked together, or when there's stomach-turning work to be done.

It's a curious film, this. There's a threat of the whole thing going off the rails, but aside from a slightly baggy midsection, it holds its course. The tone flits between TV detective show (maybe the 80s look); P. T. Anderson's Inherent Vice; and more serious political thrillers from the likes of Pablo Larraín. The director, Lucas Combina had only helmed TV series before this and he doesn't seem to be too concerned with how this will travel - it has a very 'local' feel to it, which is great. For example, if I'm not mistaken, there are a couple of references to the two-legged final of the 1980 National League, which was won by Rosario Central.

Minor issues include the motivation of the killer (if indeed, he WAS a killer) and the slight ropiness of the subtitling - what the fuck is a 'ratio' in relation to a café bar?! But all in all, this has an authentic, dated atmosphere and it brushes up against the corruption and menace of the times, while still offering hope. One character suggests Antonio and Carlos are members of different political parties - Radical and Peronista - hinting at their respective outlooks on life. A nice little, local, touch.

A Singular Crime is showing as part of the Spanish Film Festival at Luna and Palace cinemas.

See also:

Argentinian court based investigations are covered in Juan Jose Campanella's brilliant The Secret in Their Eyes (2009). Pablo Larrain's No (2012) goes heavier on the military dictatorships of South America, in this case Pinochet's Chile.

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