The Aura (9 out of 10)

Last night, I saw The Aura, an Argentinian film by recently deceased director, Fabien Bielinsky. It stars Ricardo Darin, and is about a reclusive taxidermist that has a photographic memory, and fantasizes about staging the perfect heist. He goes on a hunting trip with a buddy, and from there, the opportunity presents itself.

I loved this film. It is so dark and quiet, and I loved Darin's character so much. He plays the part so well. I have not seen Ricardo Darin in any other movies, so I don't know if this was a big turn for him, but The Taxidermist (as he is called in the movie, doesn't have a name, a la Fight Club) is such a fascinating character. He is so quiet, a 40 something year old almost-loser, that has a hard time sticking up for himself. He's not overweight or overtly nerdy looking, but he just looks like he is so miserable.

The plotline is original and great fun. I love crime movies more than any other, so of course if it was going to work, it would automatically hold a special place in my heart, and oh man did this one work. I'd say Bielinsky did for a crime story set in the wilderness what Michael Mann does for crime stories such in cities a la LA or Miami. I hate using words I've read in other reviews, but two I've seen a lot are "Atmospheric' and "Moody", and those are exactly right. The ending is wonderful and makes sense, and doesn't do what you would expect.

The title comes from the fact that The Taxidermist is epileptic and right before a seizure sets in, he gets an aura, a moment of clarity right before it hits. This happens a couple times in a movie, and is done very well.

There are some minor plot holes, nothing that takes away from the plot, and some scenes are overly and unnecessarily long. For example, The Taxidermist is explaining the aura he gets, and 10 second pauses are inserted after every sentence in his already long explanation. Or he is following a man after a robbery, and this is a ridiculously drawn out scene.

Still, this is one of the most original and intense crime movies I've seen in a while.