AnneCarlini.com Home
 
  Giveaways!
  Insider Gossip
  Monthly Hot Picks
  Book Reviews
  CD Reviews
  Concert Reviews
  DVD Reviews
  Game Reviews
  Movie Reviews
  Check Out The NEW Anne Carlini Productions!
  [NEW] Belouis Some (2024)
  [NEW] Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel (2024)
  [NEW] Mark Ruffalo (‘Poor Things’)
  [NEW] Paul Giamatti (‘The Holdovers’)
  [NEW] Crystal Gayle
  [NEW] Ellen Foley
  Gotham Knights [David Russo - Composer]
  The Home of WAXEN WARES Candles!
  Michigan Siding Company for ALL Your Outdoor Needs
  MTU Hypnosis for ALL your Day-To-Day Needs!
  COMMENTS FROM EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE READERS!


©2024 annecarlini.com
TIT

'The Aura'
(Ricardo Darín, Dolores Fonzi, et al / DVD / R / (2005) 2007 / IFC Films)

Overview: A quiet, cynic taxidermist, who suffers epilepsy attacks, is obsessed with committing the perfect crime. He claims that the cops are too stupid to find out about it when it's well executed, and that the robbers are too stupid to execute it the right way; and that he could do it himself relying on his photographic memory and his strategic planning skills. After he is invited on a hunting trip away from his home, an accident gives him the chance of his life: the possibility to commit the perfect crime he has been waiting for.

DVD Verdict: By now, as adults at least, we are fully aware that our lives are (seemingly) chock full of moments when; perhaps moreover within our own, vivid imaginations, we stop time - and in that split second we do things we might otherwise lack the courage or talent to accomplish. Sure it's more of a movie thing to accomplish fully, but in our regular day-to-day lives surely we think them more then attempt them.

Yes, I think we can agree we do, but in this quite sublime psychological thriller, 'The Aura' an introverted Buenos Aries taxidermist takes it just as far as any cinematic moment could. Simply put, as he stands in line at the bank he fills those choice moments with thoughts of executing the perfect crime. Absorbing every detail of the institution's operation he then proceeds to calmly describe to a colleague just how he would rob the place.

The taxidermist, whose name we never learn, explains how his attention to detail and photographic memory allow him to perfectly plan a heist, avoiding the stupid errors that plague the common criminal. The other man scoffs at the taxidermist's naiveté, then invites him to go on a hunting trip in the Patagonian forest the following day.

The two men arrive at their destination, a remote resort with no other guests and run by Diana (Dolores Fonzi), the very young wife of the proprietor- who is nowhere to be found. An accident plunges the taxidermist into exactly the type of scenario he had dreamed about, an elaborate caper that gives him an opportunity to literally step into his fantasy.

Not to purposely give anything else away, just know that the spacious forest where much of the film is set provides a lush, green backdrop that is both calming and unsettling. The natural beauty of the trees is undercut by the menace Argentine director Fabián Bielinsky and the director of photography, Checco Varese, communicate through their visuals. Bielinsky successfully works within the crime genre without being limited by it. The writer-director stretches the boundaries, especially in his depth of characterization, and in the process takes us someplace new. Experience this ingenious film today for all it's worth for given that 'The Aura' was the final feature by Bielinsky who knows where his next inventive pah would have led? This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Feature of:

The making of 'The Aura'
Behind-The-Scenes: A Musical Montage
Theatrical Trailer

www.IFCfilms.com





...Archives