Séptimo

A subject quite intriguing. A father who lost his two children playing a game that her wife had forbidden: who goes down faster from the seventh floor where they lived. Him by the elevator. Them down the stairs. However, when he reach the ground their children are not there. Suddenly commonplaces became unknown, mysterious. The performance of Ricardo Darin, great in films like Nine Queens and The Secret in Their Eyes, this time is not convincing and does not achieve the level of desperation that reaches for example Hugh Jackman, also as a father of a kidnapped girl in Prisoners, which compels him to cross the border of what is political correctness. Nor Belén Rueda reaches the level shown in The Orphanage where she also gives life to a mother whose son disappears in her own home. The end is resolved too quickly and with serious gaps in the plot. Unfortunately, a very forgettable film.

We thought it was a pretty good movie. I would watch it again better than whatever superhero movie they are constantly putting out now. At least this is an original idea with true plot twists and suspense, great actors overall and satisfying ending... great entertainment!

To start with, Darín is one of the best Argentinian actors nowadays, and regardless (it is true) most of the times he plays the dodgy Argentinian kind of person, he always delivers an honest and intense performance to get you into the story. I always enjoy him and watch his movies. Santoros part is very good too, makes you think about him, and how's he involved in a very believable way. The story has enough mystery to keep me wondering what was happening to a certain point. Reactions from the characters in general were believable too and the setting was good and natural. But all this until the last third. there's a break point were everything starts to fail, events have no consequences and looses a lot of realism. There's a lot of plot holes and loose ends that are important but left unresolved. I wasn't really convinced by Ruedas performance (maybe her script wasn't good...), neither the kids acting was any good.. To finish with, the resolution was a bit simple and anti-climax. I was expecting something more interesting and in the level of the beginning of the movie, a shame that the ending didn't make justice to the first half. Some good acting, fair story and photography. Writing could be better. Average movie, not the best nor from the best of Argentinian cinema. An almost 6.

This is a highly suspenseful and cerebral mystery , filled with twists and turns . Mystery , intrigue about bizarre facts happen in a block of luxurious apartments in Buenos Aires . The same team - actor (Ricardo Darin) and producer (Axel Kuschevatzky) , who made ¨Tesis Sobre Un Homicidio¨, ¨ and ¨The secret of you eyes¨ bring us another suspenseful film : ¨Septimo¨ . The picture is interesting and some moment brilliant , and the actors are quite reliable such as Ricardo Darin and Belen Rueda . As a father (Ricardo Darin) gets into a desperate search to find his two children who disappeared while going down stairs from their apartment in the seventh floor . A bit later on , his anxious mother (Belen Rueda) appears upset to find her children .

The film contains tension , thriller , drama , mystery and plot twists , including decent suspense with tense sequences especially in its final part , in a unexpected denouement , near of the end . Hitchcock-style psychological thriller , being surprisingly good and compellingly realized . The original as well as entertaining idea is overspread throughout the movie , but not totally satisfactory , including conventional pitfalls . The main cast is frankly fine , such as Ricardo Darin as a wealthy lawyer working for a dark firm and Belen Rueda as his Spanish wife . Darin is an excellent leading figure of the most important Argentinian movies such as : "El Faro" (1998), "El Mismo Amor La Misma Lluvia" (1999), "Nueve Reinas" (2000), "La Fuga" (2001) and especially known for ¨The secret in your eyes¨ and ¨El Hijo De La Novia¨ . Belen Rueda also starred several hits in Spanish cinema such as ¨El Orfanato¨, ¨Los Ojos De Julia , ¨The Body¨ and many others . The motion picture is pretty well , although sometimes stagy and packs excessive turns ; however is entertaining for continuous suspense . Sinister and mysterious atmosphere including a colorful cinematography , as it is finely photographed by cameraman Lucio Bonelli . Suspenseful and stirring musical score by Roque Baños , a expert on dark environments as proved in Cell 211 , Fragiles, Machinist, Sexy beast, Intruders and Evil dead .

The film was well produced by various producers , such as Julio Ariza , Álvaro Augustín , Blanca Formáriz , Jordi Gasull , Axel Kuschevatzky , Andrés Longares , Nicolás Matji ; all of them have produced a lot of successes in the new Argentina/Spanish cinema . Being professionally written and directed by Patxi Amezcua who formerly realized only ¨25 Kilates¨ and wrote and ¨Bruc , ¨El Desafío¨ and ¨El Viaje De Arian . The movie will appeal to suspense buffs and Ricardo Darin/Belen Rueda fans . Rating : 6,5/10 ; Good , better than average . It's well worth watching and contains some really thrilling scenes and suspenseful images .

In Fabien Bielinsky's great film, 'Nine Queens', Roberto Darin brilliantly plays a charming con- man. We never know until the end which side of the con he is on; but somehow, one can't help rooting for him, even though he doesn't deserve it. In 'Septimo', Darin again plays a man potentially caught up in a trick. But the problem with this brief film is that is provides little evidence to judge the man's character: it's clear he's let people down in the past, he seems to be reasonably straight now, but the audience has little choice but to root for him as a conventional hero; I found I didn't really care either way. Darin remains one of my favourite actors; but the material here is too thin to make the best use of his talents.