Yvan De Wiel, a private banker from Geneva, is going to Argentina in the midst of a dictatorship to replace his partner, the object of the most worrying rumors, who disappeared overnight. Between hushed lounges, swimming pools, and gardens under surveillance, a remote duel takes place between two bankers who, despite different methods, are the accomplices of a discreet and merciless form of colonization.
Fabrizio Rongione
Yvan De Wiel
Stéphanie Cléau
Inès de Wiel
Carmen Iriondo
Lacrosteguy Widow
Juan Trench
Augusto Padel-Camón
Ignacio Vila
Anibal Farrell
Pablo Torre Nilson
Mgr Tatoski
Juan Pablo Geretto
Dekerman
Alexandre Trocki
Embassadeur Frydmer
Yvain Juillard
Guy Lombier
Agustina Muñoz
Leopolda
Elli Medeiros
Magdalena Padel-Camón / Alicia Domecq
Gilles Privat
Decôme
Alain Gegenschatz
René Keys
Pablo Larralde
Chauffeur Ambassade
Raúl Lissarague
Guido
Denise Carrizo
Anita
Ioana Padilla
Bibi Morris
Federico de Martis
Fils Padel-Camón
Rafael de Martis
Fils Padel-Camón
Alejo de los Reyes
Péon Guitariste
Mariano Llinás
Director, Writer
Andreas Fontana
Script Consultant
Miguel Machalski
Writer
Mariano Llinás
April 17, 2024
7
Sophisticated banker "De Wiel" (Fabrizio Rongione) heads from his base in Geneva to Buenos Aires to take over from his colleague who has mysteriously vanished. Now this story is set in the 1980s so his destination is still under the slightly anachronistic control of a military junta and the Catholic church. Rumours are abounding about the nature of the role his colleague had in some murky financial dealings and so aside from appeasing their clients, he is to try and find out just what happened to "Kies". Upon arrival he is quickly exposed to the corruption that prevails at just about every level of society and his job is to make them as much money a possible - regardless of the ethics or risks of any such transactions, whilst maintaining an high degree of discretion (aka secrecy). I could have done with just a little more pace from director Andreas Fontana here, but what he does provide is quite a compellingly presented assessment of just how venally menacing things were. His "associates" realising that the writing might be on the wall for them desperately trying to liquidate assets which may, or probably did not, belong to them to insulate themselves in an haven abroad. His encounters are not just with the upper class, but all with all strata of a community that had spent it's life turning a blind eye or being passively complicit. The photography works well with the limited amounts of dialogue, and this is quite an effective psychological thriller that leaves us to do much of the heavy lifting - and judging -ourselves.