El patrón, radiografía de un crimen

A watchable slice of social realism for Argentina. THE BOSS, ANATOMY OF A CRIME tells the story of a lowly butcher's apprentice and the ways in which his boss goes out of his way to make his life hell. It's a dark tale of bullying and despair, based on a true story, and one which strives for the realistic at all times over the dramatic or embellished.

The director has some fun with the chronology of his movie, presenting events in flashback format while modern legal scenes explore the aftermath of the titular crime. The low-key acting is of a high standard and the production values for what is clearly a low budget tale are exemplary. Fans of this genre will enjoy it.

Although Argentina has a long road in the recognition of human rights, it still has a pending debt with respect to labor rights, with working under the table being one of the most relevant problems that has worsened seriously in recent years. The film tells the story of Hermógenes, a low-class, illiterate butcher born in a town in the interior of Argentina who moves with his partner to Buenos Aires to progress. There he will be exploited in a cruel and dehumanized way by his "boss" with whom he will maintain a close relationship to slavery. The performances are excellent causing a great indignation in the viewer, and although there are no great scenarios or a photographed work, we find a film that works with its objective that is to show the exploitation suffered by people of low educational training while movintg to large urban centers. 8/10

I just loved this movie after not expecting too much from it.

There are no details on IMDb about how much this movie actually cost to make but it was obviously pretty low budget. Having said that though, the result that the film-makers achieved here is quite something.

The movie is engaging, very well acted by all of the characters and the script is tight and quite believable, especially since the movie is based on a true story (as so many are these days).

As a parable of what amounts to modern-day slavery, it's a great story and I for one can quite understand why the main character Hermogenes ended up killing his boss who'd been abusing he and his wife Gladys for so long.

I cannot let this review pass without mentioning the revulsion that I felt in many scenes at what was done in Latuada's several butchers' shops to make rotten meat even slightly presentable to potential customers. As a human being, I am as near to carnivorous as it might be possible to be but this movie nearly made me a vegetarian, such was the revulsion that I felt at the sight of all the meat that also has a starring role here. Yuuuuukkkkkkk!!

JMV.

Based on the book by Elías Neuman of the same name, "El patrón, radiografía de un crimen" follows Hermogenes Saldivar (Joaquín Furriel), a farmhand from Santiago del Estero, working at a butcher shop after moving to Buenos Aires with his partner in search of a better life.

Directed by Sebastián Schindel, the movie touches upon class division, discrimination, corruption, and the struggles in the judicial system, problems that affect Argentina.

As a working-class and illiterate individual, Hermogenes struggles to find job options and sees himself as someone not capable of much owing to an injured knee. He finds a job at one of the butcher shops of Latuada (Luis Ziembrowski), where he is behind the counter and in charge of heavy lifting and cutting and preparing meat.

Latuada, referred by Hermogenes as "El patron," is not the best boss. His daily mistreatment to his employee and his partner Gladys (Monica Lairana) illustrates not only the prevailing discrimination still present in South America but also how he conducts his businesses. His proclivity for selling putrid meat, deceiving his customers, and putting them at risk epitomizes the stale air of the whole affair. Like the stench of rotting meat permeating everything in its wake.

Meat is at the core of the story and plays an important role in the visuals with sequences that strike for their physicality in handling it. Moments that aim at evoking disgust and also understanding the harsh reality of its protagonist. They could be compared to what Coralie Fargeat many years later did in The Substance (2024), taking the contact with food to another level by the many uses of close-ups and the sound treatment. And while not as shocking without the attention to sound, Schindel's feature film manages to infuse these places with a suffocating putrid smell that would tempt anyone to try vegetarianism.

The cast manages to portray the events in a believable fashion from beginning to end. Furriel is more than convincing in his role; the way he speaks, the way he looks, and the way he behaves capture Hermogenes perfectly. Ziembrowski gives his character the credibility to evoke antipathy and create a distance between Latuada and the audience.

"El patrón, radiografía de un crimen" examines the events that led Hermogenes being at odds with the law after so much time suffering in silence and the involvement of lawyer Marcelo Di Giovanni (Guillermo Pfening), who will see to bring justice to the case.

A brilliant well crafted and acted film. One of very few I'd watch again. Perhaps I missed a few events or perhaps the film needs tighter editing...in any event an amazing delve into good vs evil and the banal vs the ethereal. Watch this gem.