THE AURA: A Review

In September of 2006, Fabian Bielinsky, one of the best directors to come out of Latin America in the last twenty years, died of a heart attack at the young age of 47. Although his death was a blow to film lovers all over the world, he couldn't have left at a higher note then with this powerful, neo-noir masterpiece.

Ricardo Darin, the DeNiro of Argentinian film, plays the central character: A nameless, epileptic taxedermist contracted out by the Buenos Aires Natural History Museum. Darin's protaganist is a quiet, shadow of a man whose essentially riskless life is carefully mapped out around the unpredictable nature of his illness.

The title of the film comes from his explanation of what it is like to experience a grand mal seizure.

To escape the malaise of his everyday life, Darin's taxedermist, a meticulous student of detail, makes a hobby out of planning the perfect heist. Every payday, waiting in line at the bank, he scripts out these mental robberies for a gang of thieves in his head - paying close attention to the guards, the tellers, armored truck drivers, cameras and exit routes.

When an impromtu hunting trip leads to a fatal accident and a case of mistaken identity, our hero is thrown into the bloody world of real criminals - with real guns.



With a scenario that could easily be the set up for a screwball, fish-out-of-water comedy, Bielinsky masterfully pulls it into the other, far more darker direction. Every step of the nightmare is brought forward with such brilliant subtlety that, not for a moment, do you doubt the predicaments surrounding it. It simmers, then boils, then grabs you by the throat when you least expect it - much of this owing to Darin's flawlessley textured performance - a beaten down by the world everyman whose inner predator has been leashed for far too long.

The man can say more with a twitch of the eye then most actors can say in an entire monologue.

If you are a lover of atmospheric, charecter driven crime thrillers, make it a point to see this fantastic film. Like Bielinsky's wonderful con-man study NINE QUEENS, I am sure THE AURA is destined for a mediocre American remake (QUEENS was remade into CRIMINAL starring John C. Reilly), but before that happens just do yourself a favor and seek out the original. You will not be disappointed.