Los tallos amargos

"Los tallos amargos" is a great example of film noir released out of USA. Following the tradition of classic Hollywood (the most brillant time in the history of cinema), this picture tell us the story of a poor journalist who, trying to make easy money, begins to work with an hungarian inmigrant. They start a fake journalism school and soon their pockets are full of dirty money. When the journalist begins to have suspects on your partner, the plot will become most than interesting. A perfect movie, a very good story. A picture that looks like any american film of that time. 9 out of 10.

EXTRA: When the A.F.I. chose the 100 bests cinematography of all time, this argentine movie was in the list among titles like "Citizen Kane" (!)

Very dated movie done --part of it-- as expressionistic 1930s German cinema, part as realistic 1950s European neo realism, all mixed up with a very Argentinian way of interpreting the brief and blunt dialogs throughout the whole movie.

The story is quite interesting. It could have been superbly interesting if the script could have been fully developed going deeply into the main character psychology and motives for his behavior instead of the bumpy way shown here so abruptly from one scene to the next (unless I saw a faulty copy with missing scenes).

Our tortured main character motivations for what he does, as seen in this version, is totally incomprehensible, since he has no real proof to take such a drastic measure to solve the dilemma that tortures his feverish mind.

The photography may be the best asset in this film, done in black and white with a very impressive atmosphere, dark and oppressive almost all the time.

The soundtrack is also very good, following the black mood of the story very precisely and to the point.

But the whole feeling disclosed here, either about the city, its people or our protagonists is nowadays as removed from us as a Christopher Columbus ship could be as incongruous standing next to an atomic submarine.

I am glad i found out about this movie. This is not a hidden gem but it's a good, maybe very good, crime/drama-film noir and every fan of this genre will probably like it. It doesn't even need to be a big fan of this genre, because all the elements of a good movie are here. Very good actors, a clever script, a very good director, nice cinematography and overall, an interesting-at least- movie.

I can't say i understood well the whole thing about this fraudulent operation of them. Maybe it was lost in translation. But the movie doesn't depend on this either way. Probably the biggest quality here is the script, this movie works better as a character study. The protagonist is a veey interesting character. And if you pay attention to his motives and his whole psyche, everything that he does is explainable. Not justified of course, but viewer can see the reasons.

It's getting gradually better and the last 20-30 minutes are the best part of this movie. I loved the fact that i couldn't see where it goes even though old movies are usually great but mostly predictable. The ending was very powerful if you catch the symbolisms. I didn't but i read some reviews and i understood this movie better.

There are several twists and turns in this film, so you'll definitely cheat yourself if you read any reviews warning of spoilers.

Thanks to the Film Noir Foundation and UCLA, the restored version aired on TCM's Noir Alley hosted by Eddie Mueller. If you can catch his intro and outro, you'll learn some interesting things, such as the original novel was awarded a very prestigious Argentinian award as was the film itself, the score is by one of Argentina's most celebrated composers, and one of South America's most popular, if not most popular, female actors of the time has a small but important role.

There's all kinds of noir style going on, but there's also echoes of Edgar Allan Poe's use of concise storytelling, paranoia, and the concept of justice as an archetype. The acting is wonderful, and the cinematography is stunning. The musical score is all over the place, but it honestly works.

A must for noir junkies.

"And we decided to celebrate our end like the doomed in the movies do."

I loved the look and feel of this Argentinian noir, with its flashbacks, surreal dream sequences, and segues into the inner thoughts of its main character. Instead of a femme fatale we get a tragic figure (Aída Luz), and instead of everything coming apart because of a con game, we get drama out of misunderstanding and paranoia. These are basically good people, driven to dark places by economic desperation, with the post-war conditions in Europe looming as a distant backdrop. I wasn't completely sure about the ending, as the digging wouldn't have to be too deep and the guy should have known it (being vague here on purpose), but I loved how brutally grim it was. Overall, a very satisfying film.