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Death in Buenos Aires
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Wikipedia article
'Death in Buenos Aires' (Spanish: 'Muerte en Buenos Aires') is a 2014 Argentine crime film that is the directorial debut of Natalia Meta. The film stars Demin Bichir as Chvez, a police inspector struggling to balance his duties with his unspoken sexual desire, and Chino Darn as Gmez, a young and handsome rookie on the police force with enigmatic motivations.
Set in 1989, the film was shot entirely in Buenos Aires during the months of January and February 2013.
Plot
Inspector Chvez (Demin Bichir), a detective on the Buenos Aires police force, and his partner Dolores (Mnica Antonpulos) are called one summer night to the Recoleta residence of Jaime Figueroa Alcorta (Martn Wullich), a wealthy older gay member of Buenos Aires high society. At the scene, Chvez meets the young officer Gmez (Chino Darn), who says that he found Alcorta's body after investigating a noise complaint and who has been examining the dead man's possessions. The next day, the two men encounter each other in the police station restroom, where Gmez shows Chvez a matchbook from the gay nightclub Manila that he accidentally took from the crime scene.
Dolores and Chvez head to Manila in search of "Kevin," a lover of Alcorta who had left a message on the victim's answering machine. Chvez watches a flamboyant performance of a song he remembers from a record at the victim's apartment. He is approached by Gmez, claiming that he has also come to the club to investigate. Chvez angrily confronts Gmez, believing that the young man is following him, but accidentally starts a bar fight in the process, allowing the singer Kevin (Carlos Casella) to escape in the melee.
Gmez joins Chvez on the homicide investigation, and they hatch a plan for Gmez to go undercover, using the younger man's good looks to get closer to Kevin. Gmez goes on a number of dates with Kevin, leading him to believe that Kevin is innocent. Meanwhile, Chvez, who is stuck in a passionless marriage, finds himself increasingly drawn to Gmez, though he does not acknowledge or act on his attraction. Chvez tries to call off the plan, thinking that Gmez is growing too fond of the suspect and questioning Gmez's sexuality; Gmez retorts by wondering if Chvez is becoming jealous. Later, Kevin takes Gmez to a room at Manila and they begin to have sex, but they are interrupted by Chvez and Dolores, who have been watching via hidden camera. Kevin is arrested and taken into custody.
Chvez goes to interrogate the incarcerated Kevin, who convinces Chvez to release him from prison temporarily. Kevin shows Chvez a herd of horses that he claims the Alcorta family use for drug smuggling. Gmez arrives on the scene and fatally shoots Kevin as he attempts to escape on horseback. Chvez again confronts Gmez, who claims that he was only trying to protect Chvez and that Kevin invented the smuggling story. When Gmez attempts to pull Chvez in for a kiss, Chvez reacts with a mixture of anger and desire, holding Gmez at gunpoint and forcing him against his car. Chvez begins to unbuckle his belt, but is interrupted by the arrival of police backup.
The city's criminal justice system moves to close the investigation under pressure from the Alcorta family. However, Chvez discovers that the horses were surgically implanted with drugs, matching Kevin's story. Chvez now believes that Gmez killed Jaime Figueroa Alcorta on behalf of the Alcorta family, who were angered by the dead man's opposition to the smuggling business. When Chvez confronts Gmez with his hypothesis, Gmez pleads innocence, and Chvez's paranoia reaches an extreme when he draws his gun on two policemen. Realizing his mistake, Chvez exclaims that he is going insane. Gmez comforts Chvez and begins to kiss him. After initially pulling back, Chvez returns the kiss passionately, but is soon stopped by a gunshot to the stomach, confirming his suspicions about Gmez. As he sinks to the ground, Gmez tells him that he will miss him. Gmez throws his gun into the river, smokes a cigarette, and walks off into the night.
Cast
* Demin Bichir as Inspector Chvez
* Chino Darn as Officer "El Ganso" Gmez
* Carlos Casella as Kevin "Carlos" Gonzalez
* as Officer Dolores Petric
* Emilio Disi as Judge Morales
* Jorgelina Aruzzi as Ana Chvez
* Hugo Arana as Commissioner Sanfilippo
* Luisa Kuliok as Blanca Figueroa Alcorta
* as Calgula Moyano
* Gino Renni as Tailor
* as Doctor Anchorena
* Nehuen Penzotti as Miguel Chvez
* Martn Wullich as Jaime "Copito" Figueroa Alcorta
Reception
Critical reception
'Death in Buenos Aires' received mixed reviews from critics. Argentine review aggregator website 'Todas las Crticas' gives the film a rating of 54%, based on 39 reviews.Juan Carlos Fontana of 'La Prensa' gave the film a favorable review, praising Natalia Meta as a directorial novice and the performances of the lead actors, in particular Darn and Casella. He enjoyed the film's humor and the dynamic between Bichir and Darn's characters. Pablo Scholz of 'Clarn' also reviewed the film positively, writing that "Natalia Meta's debut is flawlessly wrought" and that the film "fulfills its purpose and will not disappoint." Conversely, in his review for 'La Nacin', Alejandro Lingenti criticized the film for emphasizing style over substance; he called the storyline weak and oftentimes implausible and complained that the relationship between Bichir and Darn seemed forced and unnatural.
Accolades
In July 2015, Chino Darn won the prize for Best Actor in a feature film at the 19th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival for his role as Gmez.References
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