Mort à Buenos Aires

This movie has a mediocre rating because it has a female director. Period. It is an excellent film and deserves a 10 out of 10. If you enjoy movies that give you a genuine slice of life from a far away place with well calibrated characters, mood, locations, you are going to love Death in Buenos Aires. The story uses the setting of a murder investigation to explore sexuality, manipulations, torn fragments of unfulfilled desire and trust. There is beautiful music throughout which brings the watcher directly into the middle of the flux of emotion, staring wide eyed at the gorgeous city with yearning. Monica Antonopulos is stunning as a detective who is at the peak of her youth and beauty and wastes no time enjoying it. Chino Darin as the young policeman is disturbingly handsome and slippery, a great screen presence you cannot take your eyes off for a second.

I guess the film needed to be set in the eighties to explain the corruption and cover ups. The set designers and director did a good job of making Buenos Aires and its locales look authentically retro.

Ambiguity pervades the film in both a sexual sense, in the relationships between the main male actors and the plotline of the aftermath of the murder.

We can be pretty sure of who the murderer is fairly quickly but his denials ring true and lead to the viewer's discombobulation as to who really did it.

Everyone is raving about Chino Darín as Ganso and it's true, he is an utter hunk with a magnetism and attractiveness that are used to good effect in the film. But Demián Bichir as Chávez also looks incredibly good for his age.

The film kept you guessing as to how it would be resolved right up to the end. I wasn't expecting that particular ending but in the context what had come before, the way it happened and what did happen were a continuation of the underlying themes of the film.

This was a worthwhile ninety minutes.

This movie was compelling to watch because it was unique, had a lot of twists and turns and one of the leads was young, masculine and attractive. Good acting. High production values, but the end was a complete let down. I actively hated the entire movie after seeing the ending. It was truly disgusting!!! It was a deliberate, pathetic trick played by the screenwriter. Those who gave this high marks are sadistic. If this had been a high production "straight" movie, this ending would not have stood. But since it's a gay movie and gays are loathed as well as self-loathing, this type of ending is considered "acceptable" by the screenwriter/director. As a gay person, seeking positive gay themed entertainment, I resent this attitude with a passion!!!

The film looks good and the acting is fine. Chino Darín is especially talented and appealing. The story, however, is kinda dumb and very thin. Key characters are not really fleshed out or fully explained. The twist is contrived and also underexplained.

The crime plot line is nothing special but that was forgivable: it's not really the murder that matters but it gets investigated and here the investigation was written lazily. The romantic subplot had the potential to be explosive but it felt forced and rushed, because the male lead lacked chemistry.

Darín is so good tho. So handsome!!!