El aura

Fabian Bielinsky's sudden death gave me an incentive to write these lines. Since the first time I watched "El aura" (The aura) -three times by now- I was touched by an awkward, strange feeling. ¿What was about? A story of a zombie, a man who is not aware about his own death (This is not an spoiler, nothing to do with the plot). In a way, it was the same thing I felt watching "Carnival of Souls" (Herk Harvey 1962). These movies are not only about ghosts, lost souls, lost people, they were made by them. Ricardo Darin's character is Bielinsky himself: had he the feeling about his impending end? If you didn't know anything about this weird tale, take a look of it. Some people complain about its pace, the story, the absolute lack of sense of humor. And they compare El Aura with Nine Queens, the other Bielinsky's movie. In my point of view Nine Queen is a nice, frivolous exercise, but once and for all, "El aura" is a whole new game, a different stage. If you are in the right mood, it will take you to another world, the world from Bielinsky was making this film, near his own end.

El Aura has an interesting idea (man dreams about a big time robbery and gets the chance to do so in an unexpected way) but the way it is all worked out is just too slow. Though the pace does work on some moments, and I do certainly not always mind slow paced movies, it didn't have enough tension for me to keep my thoughts constantly on the movie. The images are nice, I liked the setting, it is well shot and atmospheric, but it seemed to me that the director was too much of a perfectionist with his focus on every separate scene instead of the whole of the movie. Which is a shame, as I think that with about 45 minutes less, I would have liked it a lot more. I certainly don't mind if a shot of a thinking man takes up long seconds but if that happens all the time, with about everything that's going on, well, I know the game and it looses it's strength to me.

The script itself was also not always very believable. I'll not go into details, but the reality of the story definitely had it's flaws.

All together it was disappointing, because the potential is certainly there. If the silence would have been used only in certain parts and less in the rest of the movie, and parts of the script would have been just a bit more believable, it would have worked better for me. I know I will get down rates for this review, as most people seem to be totally lyrical about it, but I just can't make anything more of it. Slow is great if there is a lot of tension. In this case, there were too many scenes were slow was used without that needed tension.

Maybe I watched it with too high expectations. I'll still give it a 7 out of 10 because it was good enough to not give it anything less, but I might change that (to a lower number) depending on if the movie stays with me or simply fades away in my memory. It was a good try, with some beautiful shots and great moments, but really.... not thát special, and definitely overrated.

This is another magnificent movie delivered by director Fabián Belinsky. I found the script captivating enough as to keep me tied to my seat from start to end. But besides, there's another goodie within El Aura, which is the photographic quality together with a pace that without being much too fast, remains still along the whole film -no decay at all-, making it a delight for purists and good quality cinema lovers. I found a couple of minor flaws which stand for the 9 instead of a 10, but they are indeed so minor that they can be perfectly overlooked. Moreover, Oscar Awards nomination should follow, as El Aura has absolutely nothing to envy from the very best Hollywood products. Indeed, film noir as good as it can be. Can't miss it.

Fabián Bielinsky's last movie excellently performed by Argentina big star , Ricardo Darin . It deals with Espinoza (magnificent , as always , Ricardo Darin) is a quiet taxidermist who secretly dreams of executing the perfect crime. On his first ever hunting trip, in the calm of the Patagonian forest, his dreams are made reality with one squeeze of the trigger. Espinoza accidentally murders an old man named Dietrich (Manuel Rodal) married a young girl (a young Dolores Fonzi gives an enjoyable acting ) who results out to be a real criminal and inherits his scheme: the heist of an armored van carrying casino profits. Caught up in a world of complex new rules and frightening violence, Espinoza's lack of experience puts him in real danger. And he has another, more dangerous liability : he is an epileptic. Before each seizure he is visited by the ''aura'' . These attacks appear without notice when he least expects them, just when he needs all his wits about him .

This is a co-production Argentina/Spain , being well paced , skillfully edited and suspenseful . Interesting and exciting movie about a deluded taxidermist who plans the perfect robbery ; it is plenty of thrills , intense drama , violence , action and is pretty interesting . However , the picture turns out to be overlong and slow moving . Very good acting by Ricardo Darin as a shy taxidermist who suffers epilepsy attacks , a paradoxical moment of confusion and enlightenment where the past and future seem to blend , and he is obsessed with committing the perfect crime. 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 ¨El Hijo de la Novia¨ . Stirring as well as sensitive musical score by Lucio Godoy , an extraordinary composer expert on dark atmospheres such as ¨Rage¨, ¨Night runner¨, ¨The others¨, ¨Intacto¨ and many others . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Checco Varese . The motion picture well produced by great producers Gerardo Herrero and Victor Hadida , was compellingly directed by Fabian Bielinsky , in his second and last film , the first was also successful titled ¨9 Reinas¨ also starred by Ricardo Darin and even had an American remake . Fabian sadly deceased at 47 years old . This is an above average film and Argentina's official submission to the 2006 Academy Awards for the category of Foreign Language Film . The picture will appeal to Ricardo Darin fans and thriller aficionados .

Ricardo Darin's Espinosa portrait is just like my reflection in the mirror. I found myself in it. Fabian Bielinsky's 3rd directing and 5th screenplay experience happened to be his last step of his career. With El Aura, he carries us away into the world of a misunderstood desolate man. For most films, people don't like reading a review or collecting detailed information before actually seeing the film. But if the film you're approaching is a mystery and cannot be understood easily in the first view, you should get some clue of it before watching. Anyhow, El Aura is one of them.

Esteban Espinosa earns his life with taxidermy, filling up animal hides of wild-life. He is a naturalist and jack of all trades, has a strong memory and is very observant. One day waiting at a queue at the bank, he shares his most marvellous dream -to rob a bank- with his friend; while he is being offered to accompany his friend for shoot day out in the forest. On a Monday, they settle into a motel in the forest, where they weren't hosted well enough and were questioned if they are local; putting them on the jitters. With this bad mood, they start arguing while hunting for deers. After his friend insulted him and left him alone; he gets caught into a major epilepsy fit for a moment and falls in a faint. When he wakes up he is unconscious; and while aiming to shoot a deer, he suddenly turns his rifle to an old man walking in the forest and shoots him. Gaining back his conscious, he goes near to the man he shot; whose cell-phone starts to ring. Espinosa takes his cellphone and his i.d. ; then hides the corpse in a pit. To avoid the trouble he fell into, he remains calm and turns back to motel to stay there longer than planned. His friend goes back to the city, then he starts stepping towards his mysterious journey; when he finds out that the man he killed is the owner of the motel.

The screenplay segments work completely perfect: Plot is very well built, script is written professionally in a plain format, story developing at its best, character developing is well crafted, and the main theme is so wisely gives multiple messages and views. Everything we see, we hear, we witness are elements of a complete mystery. This film needs to be seen very carefully. Flashback sequences will be refreshing our memory of the earlier scenes where it's completely necessary. Also it's clearly to see that the editing and the full post-production job with music and sound effects are best fit.

I find it essential to analyze Esteban Espinosa's characterization work. There are 4 basic factors that differentiates Espinosa's character:

1/His life... 2/His dreams... 3/His self-defensive attitudes... 4/His disability:Epilepsy

He is not happy living his life on his own. He has a hidden adventurous character. He likes trouble, he likes testing his limits. Thus he pokes his nose into everything. He steals, collects and carries with him almost everything he thinks it's useful. In fact, Esteban Espinosa character may be an awesome sample of a Point-and-click Adventure Game. His character has been designed to be another Guybrush or another George Stobbart. Overall, El Aura is among the best of all-time Mystery/Adventure movies.