KVIFF 2023: Argentina’s ‘The Delinquents’ – Parable of a Slow-Burning Heist
By Alex Billington
July 3, 2023
What would be worse – the overwhelming stress of having so much money that you don’t know how to handle it properly, or the overwhelming anxiety of waiting Soon to receive so much money that it will allow you to never work again? Something to think about watching this movie. I caught this outstanding Argentinian film at Karlovy Vary 2023 after it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May in the Un Certain Regard section. the criminalsAlso known as Los Delincuentes In Spanish, it’s a slow-burn heist that runs for a total of 180 minutes – exactly 3 hours long. Don’t write it off yet! Don’t skip it if you get the chance to watch it on the big screen! If you can sit with it and appreciate the way Takes its time to breathe and let the story unravel, you’ll be rewarded with a rich, compelling and cinematically intelligent film about how money has imprisoned us all. And the filmmaking, oh my god, the cinematography is to die for! It’s consistently striking and smart and patient and stunning.
“where Is it freedom?” This is the stimulating question at the core of this film. the criminals Written and directed by the creator of the film “Argentine New Wave”. Rodrigo Moreno, his fourth feature film to date. The story follows two bank employees in Buenos Aires. Daniel Elias Co-stars as Moran, who quietly decides one day to rob the bank where he works in the most casual way. Knowing he will go to jail, he convinces his co-worker/romance, played by Esteban Bigliardi, to take the cash and store it and make sure it is safe for the years that it will be locked. The rest of the movie is about “what happens next” and of course, a simple plan is never that simple. It starts to fall apart fast and they realize very quickly that waiting almost four years for everything to explode is not so easy. We are all in a money corner whether we like it or not. This is only the beginning, as the narrative splits and each goes in its different paths. They’re not exactly criminals as we know, they’re just people who want real freedom to escape the boring, mundane work we all have to do to keep making money so we can live our boring, repetitive lives.
There is so much in this distinct film to admire and get lost in even if it takes a while to progress, letting scenes unfold casually. Perhaps it is a gentle reminder that there is freedom even in allowing time to pass. the criminals is a modern Hitchcockian heist film that becomes an example of liberation and money and what it means to truly escape and live free. The transitions in this movie are amazing holy smokes, so many beautiful slow fades. The split screen shots used a few times are also brilliant. I loved the result, I loved the photography, I loved the characters. I could talk about this movie for hours. It’s definitely worth standing up for, just the kind of fascinating movie you have to discuss with friends after watching it to analyze what’s going on and the story and the point it’s making. Filmmaking is really something special. Of course, yes, my only criticism is that it could be trimmed and tightened a bit. And that’s it in a big way. In the end it turns out that this is not a heist movie, no matter how they sell it; It’s a movie about how we’re drawn to heist stories that slowly fade into a movie about how money controls us. A nightmare we all need to wake up from.
Alex’s KVIFF 2023 Rating: 9 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
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