El clan

This is a fun little movie. Watching it is truly an experience. Knowing that it is based on a true story really blows the mind!! Wow! Completely crazy story.

Really well made and superbly acted. This is a cracking little movie!!

My wife and I saw this film at the Louisiana Film Festival last night not knowing what to expect. Before I go on, my wife and I have totally different views and tastes when it comes to the art of film but this time we both came out of "El Clan" pretty satisfied. This film started off pretty slow but did get a little more riveting as it went on. There really were no big surprises or twists in this film. It was pretty much straight forward but got more interesting as the film went on. The story is simple; The Puccio Family, who is a model family on the outside, is a family that is in the business of kidnapping rich people for money and then killing them. Arquimedes Puccio (Guillermo Francella) is a respectable store owner who has an adoring wife and five respectable kids but all of this is a front for what they really do, simple but good. The acting in this film was great, especially from Guillermo Francella who played the part of Arquimedes Puccio, the totalitarian leader of "El Clan". The program director for the film festival mentioned, because this film didn't win or get a nomination for the foreign film category at the Oscars, Twentieth Century Fox decided to drop it, which is a shame because it's actually a decent film. I had no regrets seeing it.

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.

The film hits from the real and moves the focus on one of the children who suffer most acts of his father, who embodies a sober Franchella that has long been demonstrating his talent for drama also. Format images first constant level remains stuck at viewer will not regret it in the film, which will feel some concern that under the aspects of normalcy can hide eyesores, this very well managed by the principal. I did not like the supporting performances and the appearance of the wife could have been more widespread. Compared to other good films of Argentine cinema may have lacked artistic details that make it more blockbuster, but certainly is a creation that will be a very good story in a story that is surprising.

A few years back, I was advising a Francophile mate of the virtues of the wonderful French comedy, The Intouchables. I mentioned also that the subtitling was superb. 'How would you know?' he asked, aware that I had but a smattering of schoolboy French. I explained that the grammar and syntax was perfect, and colloquialisms clearly caught the spirit of the piece - you simply forgot you were reading script, allowing you to concentrate on the visuals.

Sadly, the taut Argentine crime thriller,The Clan, looks as if it's been subtitled by a dyslexic alcoholic using Google translate. It was extremely frustrating. I was clearly watching a very well made film, based on real events, about a Mafiosa-style family engaged in kidnapping and extortion; this was at a time, the 1980s, when the government was up to similar tactics - many dissidents simply disappeared. Keeping Police and officials sweet, the family could act with near impunity.

Everything about the film - its story, pacing, acting, direction was top notch. But the constantly poor subtitling proved too great a distraction and detracted from the film itself.

I can recommend the film without hesitation to any fluent Spanish speakers among you.