Azor

Especially for a debut, this is some seriously sophisticated filmmaking by Fontana. Handling the same setting of the Junta's, it forms basically the antipode of Argentina1985 as the entire movie develops in subtext and in the background only. There's no exposition about historical context at all, and it still works without any knowledge of it. The attentive viewer, it does take some persistence i admit, gets rewarded by a chilling conclusion that will stay on your mind for a while. Masterpiece

I have no idea what’s going on. I guess my life is so fucking boring so I keep watching this stuff - and the only thing I’m sure of is that the directing of this movie is much more boring than my life.

An elegant and slow-moving analysis of the economical and political climate of Argentina during a period of dictatorship. It has a cool, chilling distance to it, where ambiguity in both language and space are explored. Smiles and gestures are to be taken with a pinch of salt, as the smug facades of the Argentinian upper-class are moved slightly to reveal desperation. The restraint of Azor in the face of its subject matter are made all the more impressive by the fact it's Fontana's feature debut.

De Wiel is a uniquely unlikable, unknowable protagonist . It’s like he’s nonplussed about private banking being a dirty business and moneyed interests being dangerous and irredeemably corrupt. But intriguingly, that very unknowability is crucial to both his career and this cinematic enterprise. I found the film’s arc involving if overly elliptical and the subject matter off-putting in the extreme.

Answers the question, "What if Lucrecia Martel remade THE WOLF OF WALL STREET...?"

A masterclass in show don't tell and pairing form and content, pushing me to the edge of the couch trying to keep up with what is going on and trying to master the labyrinth - just like the manipulative and probing people it's about. Excellent casting and a very matching soundtrack. Fontana is on my list!

Interesting slow burn where most of the action happens in the background and between the lines.

On how to navigate a dictatorship in times of extreme fear without being killed or having to flee the country like a fugitive -- act like a ghost, you just nod, deliver some smiles and don't ask questions. Quite a class about self-contained mise-en-scene, subtlety and off-screen political horror. Keys' name, the missing banker, is always said with fervor, but why did he disappear? De Wiel better don't try to know and just finish his partner's unfinished business.

Delicately constructed cinematography, poetic and fragile narrative. Using a very mundane subject [finance] as a pretext, it delves into the intricate and complex relationships between Europe and Latin America.

I really intensely disliked this film. It's admirers predictably describe it as a "slow burn", but I'm pretty certain there's no burn going on at all. I can see what it's trying to do, but I don't think Rongione is playing a character that's defined in any way, so the pay-off here is both completely predictable and of little consequence.

The story of a Swiss banker traveling Argentina during the junta, “Azor” takes place in the cloistered world of private banking. A world with special codes of conduct and dialect, that’s why the banks endure and build fortunes over centuries while their criminal clients may rise and fall. Azor itself is a code word meaning “to not say too much” or “to keep one’s cards close,” a trait that the film and its protagonist so excel at, viewers will be kept guessing until the last momen