Elefante blanco

The perfect portray of human hypocrisy. I guess the actual message in this movie is that nothing really ends, nor the struggle for a better life or the evil that keeps people from getting a better life.

Some other reviewer stated this kind of story had already been told... Well has it?. Not this one in particular, I think the characters are quite real. Both main characters and extras have done a wonderful job keeping it real, nothing i have seen in Argentinian films for a while.

The shots are beautiful and seem to capture very well the actual landscape of the "villas". Music on the other hand doesn't live up to the most dramatic moments in the film, and personally I think it could have been improved.

To sum up "Elefante blanco" is definitely a movie to be watched, and mostly a message to be heard.

"White Elephant" is a Drama movie in which we watch a man trying to help the residents of a Buenos Aries shantytown by building a hospital. His life will change when he will meet a social worker.

I liked this movie because it had a simple but interesting plot that contained some unexpected plot twists that change it a lot. The interpretation of Ricardo Darín who played as Julián was very good and for one more time he did an excellent job. Some other interpretations that have to be mentioned were Jérémie Renier's who played as Nicolás and Martina Gusman's who played as Luciana. The combination of these characters and their differences worked very well and fitted equally good with the concept of the movie. Finally, I have to say that "White Elephant" is an interesting drama movie and I recommend you to watch it.

Set in present day Buenos Aires, a middle-aged catholic priest (Ricardo Darin) who is working on a housing project in a real-life slum brings a french priest friend (Jérémie Renier) to work with him.

In my opinion, the movie's strength is not so much the plot but the realistic portrayal of the crude slum life-style, codes, culture and hardships.

My office is 4 blocks away from that slum, it is quite a contrast between a slick cosmopolitan, corporate world and a poverty-stricken area where violent crime thrives. I can tell you the director achieved great accuracy in the portrayal of the slum environment, without conveying a condescending feel, but a dignified one.

Worth a watch.

So this was based on a man who ... well that would be a spoiler, but lets say someone who helped people in communities that did not get any help from the state - quite the opposite, they were oppressed. And as the director reveals even under a democratic elected goverment (something you probably can search and find on the internet too).

Those were "insights" I got mostly after watching the movie, but they will not hinder you or take anything away from the movie watching experience. So I knew this was a drama, I just didn't know what this was going to be about. Knowing the main actor (and if you've seen a couple of Argentinian movies you probably know or have seen him too) is one thing, which also means you know how good he is. But it's more the story that will tear you apart and the sacrifices some people do, to help others. It might feel a bit unfocused at times, but the grander perspective is there

Pablo Trapero's film tells a tough tale set in the slums of South America; but for much of its length, with its focus on community organisation and the struggle of workers to get paid, it resembles less 'City of God' than a Ken Loach movie, and it's not necessarily the worse for that. What is lacks, however, which Loach's movies do not, is a sense of perspective beyond those of those who try to help the slum's inhabitants: we see the story through the eyes of two priests, and a social worker, but not of the slum dwellers themselves. Indeed, the film (which is very watchable) could have been longer: a female gangland boss seems a potentially interesting character, but she only gets one scene, while the question of who is screwing the workers (and whether allies of the Church might actually be involved) is raised by not answered. It's a nice small movie; but one that contains a bigger picture that is never fully shown.