Plata Quemada
Encyclopedia
Plata quemada (2000) is an Argentine
film
directed by Marcelo Piñeyro
, and written by Piñeyro and Marcelo Figueras
.
The film won, among other awards, the Goya Award
for Best Spanish Language Foreign Film in 2001.
The picture stars Leonardo Sbaraglia
, Eduardo Noriega
, Pablo Echarri
, Leticia Bredice
, Ricardo Bartis, Héctor Alterio, and others. It is based on Ricardo Piglia
's 1997 Planeta prize-winning novel of the same name (but translated into English as Money to Burn) that was inspired by a true story of a famous bank robbery
in Buenos Aires
in 1965. The film, a recreation of their now-legendary story, is an action thriller of the exploits and red-hot passion of two thugs.
The work was partly funded by INCAA
.
), a petty thief, and Angel (Eduardo Noriega
), a drifter, meet in the bathroom of a Buenos Aires subway station, and from that moment they are inseparable. They become known as "the twins", but their relationship is in fact that of lovers and, soon, as partners in crime. At a point when their relationship is already turning difficult, the plot sets in.
Their love and loyalty to each other is tested when "the twins" join a plan to hold up an armored truck together with a group of seasoned gangster
s: their swaggering straight cohort Cuervo (Pablo Echarri
), a sedative addict who's been carrying on an affair with the luscious Vivi (Dolores Fonzi
); a 16-year-old nymphet; the trio's boss Fontana (Ricardo Bartis); and the elderly lawyer
Nando (Carlos Roffé
), who is past the days of any professional illusions and helps make connections to find a good team for the crime.
Angel is wounded by police gunfire during the robbery, provoking Nene to kill all of the guards and police in a fit of rage. Two police officer
s are among the victims, and so the police of Buenos Aires start a major search for the culprits. They soon find a lead to Vivi's apartment, where the gang had been hiding out, but by this time, all except Vivi have escaped to neighboring Uruguay
. The police force Vivi to give away their plans, and the search is broadened to Uruguay.
Meanwhile, the gang needs to wait for new passport
s (to be arranged by a dubious character played by Héctor Alterio) for their escape from Uruguay.
They take refuge in an empty apartment in Montevideo
, but the organisation of the documents takes longer than originally planned. The waiting is especially hard on Nene: Angel—who is described as constantly "hearing voices" and seems to suffer a slight form of schizophrenia—has been rejecting intimate contact with Nene since at least the beginning of the escape, for reasons indirectly connected with his condition.
Nene eventually decides to break curfew and "get some air", and he, Angel, and Cuervo go and enjoy themselves at a fair. That evening outside of the apartment is not their last though, partly because Angel continues to reject any contact and does not even speak to Nene anymore.
On one evening, Nene ends up verbally and sexually abusing another gay person, but finally he meets the prostitute Giselle (Leticia Bredice
) and starts a relationship with her, even mentioning a solo escape with her.
When Nando is caught by the police, the group is forced to abandon their refuge. Fontana goes off on his own, but Nene brings Angel and Cuervo to hide out in Giselle's apartment before they leave the city at night.
Angel had sensed that Nene had been cheating on him, and he soon understands where Giselle fits in. Before it can come to a fight, however, he also hears from Giselle that Nene still cares for him and suffered from his rejection. Giselle tells Nene that she has a cousin who lives near the border and she can arrange passage, but not for three men the police are after. She says that a couple, a man and a woman, will be able to get across easily. When she forces him to choose between her and Angel, he chooses Angel.
Nene tells Giselle that he will find her and kill her if she turns them in. Despite his threats, Giselle goes straight to the police to turn in the gang. Before the group takes to their heels, police have already surrounded the building. At first, the trio believes they will be able to escape, thinking that the police will not endanger the haul (several million dollars) or the lives of a large number of policemen. In high spirits, the three of them set to defend the apartment and their freedom, while Nene and Angel rekindle their relationship and spend some short and erotic moments of mutual happiness. After the first wave of attacks, a contented Angel even says the "voices" he always heard have fallen silent.
The group soon finds out, however, that there is no way out. Cuervo dies in an attempt to sally, and Nene and Angel remain waiting for the next wave of police attacks on the apartment. Seeing that they can save neither their own lives nor the money, they burn the entire haul in a final outburst of joie de vivre
.
Finally, Nene catches a bullet and dies in Angel's arms. Angel still holds Nene and sends a volley of bullets in the direction of the approaching police every now and again, when the lights fade out and the audience is left with the sound of the final fusillade of the police machine guns. It is implied that Angel committed suicide by cop
.
The film has been said to be more authentic than Ricardo Piglia's book on which it was based. The dates indicated at the end of the film (28 September to 4 November 1965), however, are not entirely accurate as the final attack on the fugitives' hiding place in Montevideo took place on Saturday, 6 November 1965. Three days earlier, the fugitives had stolen a car to exchange it for the stolen one they had, and thereby had provoked a shooting with the Uruguayan police; the shooting had taken place next to the TV channel canal 8 from Montevideo, which would later be the only channel with live coverage of the siege.
In the siege, both El Nene and Dorda/Angel died; according to a police officer who was interviewed for a documentary about the events and the release of Piñeyro's film, the bodies of the two were found holding hands; they were, however, separated before the official police photographs were taken from the location. Both were half-naked and in underwear, in a pool of blood, as shown in the film. In contrast to the movie, El Cuervo/Mereles was mortally wounded, but did not die during the siege. Spat on, hit, kicked and insulted by the police, he was relocated to a public hospital, where he died a few hours later. The three were anonymously buried in the Northern Cemetery of Montevideo at 8am on Wednesday, 10 November 1965. Only El Nene's body was reclaimed by his family and transferred back to Argentina. In February 1966, Malito/Fontana was seen in Flores, a Buenos Aires neighborhood, and there shot by the police.
The film was shown at various film festivals, including: the Toronto Film Festival, Canada; the Palm Springs International Film Festival
, United States; the Berlin International Film Festival
, Germany; and others.
Nominations
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Marcelo Piñeyro
Marcelo Piñeyro
Marcelo Piñeyro is an Argentine award-winning film director, screenwriter, and film producer.-Biography:Born in Buenos Aires, Piñeyro studied cinematography at the University of La Plata's School of Fine Arts...
, and written by Piñeyro and Marcelo Figueras
Marcelo Figueras
Marcelo Figueras is a writer and a screenwriter.-Novels :* El muchacho peronista* El espía del tiempo, * Kamchatka, 2003...
.
The film won, among other awards, the Goya Award
Goya Awards
The Goya Awards, known in Spanish as los Premios Goya, are Spain's main national film awards, considered by many in Spain, and internationally, to be the Spanish equivalent of the American Academy Awards....
for Best Spanish Language Foreign Film in 2001.
The picture stars Leonardo Sbaraglia
Leonardo Sbaraglia
Leonardo Máximo Sbaraglia is a prominent Argentine film actor, with extensive credits in both Argentina and Spain.He has also worked in Mexico, and was cast in his first English-language role in Red Lights.-Life and work:...
, Eduardo Noriega
Eduardo Noriega (Spanish actor)
Eduardo Noriega Gómez is a Spanish film actor, perhaps best known for his roles in two Alejandro Amenábar films, the multiple Goya Award-winning Tesis and Open Your Eyes . He also starred in The Wolf...
, Pablo Echarri
Pablo Echarri
Pablo Daniel Echarri is a leading Argentine actor.He was born in Villa Dominico, Buenos Aires Province, and began his career on Argentine television in 1993...
, Leticia Bredice
Leticia Brédice
Leticia Marcela Brédice is an Argentine award-winning actress. She was born in Buenos Aires, though her birthdate has been reported as both August 26, 1972 and December 26, 1972. She and Juan Pablo Sanguinetti had a son, Indio, on August 11, 2005....
, Ricardo Bartis, Héctor Alterio, and others. It is based on Ricardo Piglia
Ricardo Piglia
Ricardo Piglia is one of the foremost contemporary Argentine writers, known for his fiction, including several collections of short stories; the novels Artificial Respiration , The Absent City , Burnt Money ; and criticism including Criticism and Fiction , Brief Forms and...
's 1997 Planeta prize-winning novel of the same name (but translated into English as Money to Burn) that was inspired by a true story of a famous bank robbery
Bank robbery
Bank robbery is the crime of stealing from a bank during opening hours. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, robbery is "the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of...
in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
in 1965. The film, a recreation of their now-legendary story, is an action thriller of the exploits and red-hot passion of two thugs.
The work was partly funded by INCAA
INCAA
The National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts is an Argentine government film production company in Buenos Aires. It promotes the Argentine film industry by funding qualified Argentine film production companies.-Ratings:...
.
Plot
The setting is Argentina, 1965. El Nene (Leonardo SbaragliaLeonardo Sbaraglia
Leonardo Máximo Sbaraglia is a prominent Argentine film actor, with extensive credits in both Argentina and Spain.He has also worked in Mexico, and was cast in his first English-language role in Red Lights.-Life and work:...
), a petty thief, and Angel (Eduardo Noriega
Eduardo Noriega (Spanish actor)
Eduardo Noriega Gómez is a Spanish film actor, perhaps best known for his roles in two Alejandro Amenábar films, the multiple Goya Award-winning Tesis and Open Your Eyes . He also starred in The Wolf...
), a drifter, meet in the bathroom of a Buenos Aires subway station, and from that moment they are inseparable. They become known as "the twins", but their relationship is in fact that of lovers and, soon, as partners in crime. At a point when their relationship is already turning difficult, the plot sets in.
Their love and loyalty to each other is tested when "the twins" join a plan to hold up an armored truck together with a group of seasoned gangster
Gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
s: their swaggering straight cohort Cuervo (Pablo Echarri
Pablo Echarri
Pablo Daniel Echarri is a leading Argentine actor.He was born in Villa Dominico, Buenos Aires Province, and began his career on Argentine television in 1993...
), a sedative addict who's been carrying on an affair with the luscious Vivi (Dolores Fonzi
Dolores Fonzi
Dolores Fonzi is an Argentine TV and film actress active since 1997.Several of her films have received critical acclaim such as Plata quemada , Esperando al mesías , El Fondo del mar and El Aura . Her brother, Tomás Fonzi is also an actor in the Cinema of Argentina...
); a 16-year-old nymphet; the trio's boss Fontana (Ricardo Bartis); and the elderly lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
Nando (Carlos Roffé
Carlos Roffé
Carlos Roffé was an Argentine film and television actor active between 1969 and 2005.He worked in the cinema of Argentina. IN 1985 he appeared as himself in Bailoretto, la aventura de un rebelde. In the late 1980s and early 1990s he appeared in a number of films of Alejandro Agresti...
), who is past the days of any professional illusions and helps make connections to find a good team for the crime.
Angel is wounded by police gunfire during the robbery, provoking Nene to kill all of the guards and police in a fit of rage. Two police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
s are among the victims, and so the police of Buenos Aires start a major search for the culprits. They soon find a lead to Vivi's apartment, where the gang had been hiding out, but by this time, all except Vivi have escaped to neighboring Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
. The police force Vivi to give away their plans, and the search is broadened to Uruguay.
Meanwhile, the gang needs to wait for new passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
s (to be arranged by a dubious character played by Héctor Alterio) for their escape from Uruguay.
They take refuge in an empty apartment in Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, but the organisation of the documents takes longer than originally planned. The waiting is especially hard on Nene: Angel—who is described as constantly "hearing voices" and seems to suffer a slight form of schizophrenia—has been rejecting intimate contact with Nene since at least the beginning of the escape, for reasons indirectly connected with his condition.
Nene eventually decides to break curfew and "get some air", and he, Angel, and Cuervo go and enjoy themselves at a fair. That evening outside of the apartment is not their last though, partly because Angel continues to reject any contact and does not even speak to Nene anymore.
On one evening, Nene ends up verbally and sexually abusing another gay person, but finally he meets the prostitute Giselle (Leticia Bredice
Leticia Brédice
Leticia Marcela Brédice is an Argentine award-winning actress. She was born in Buenos Aires, though her birthdate has been reported as both August 26, 1972 and December 26, 1972. She and Juan Pablo Sanguinetti had a son, Indio, on August 11, 2005....
) and starts a relationship with her, even mentioning a solo escape with her.
When Nando is caught by the police, the group is forced to abandon their refuge. Fontana goes off on his own, but Nene brings Angel and Cuervo to hide out in Giselle's apartment before they leave the city at night.
Angel had sensed that Nene had been cheating on him, and he soon understands where Giselle fits in. Before it can come to a fight, however, he also hears from Giselle that Nene still cares for him and suffered from his rejection. Giselle tells Nene that she has a cousin who lives near the border and she can arrange passage, but not for three men the police are after. She says that a couple, a man and a woman, will be able to get across easily. When she forces him to choose between her and Angel, he chooses Angel.
Nene tells Giselle that he will find her and kill her if she turns them in. Despite his threats, Giselle goes straight to the police to turn in the gang. Before the group takes to their heels, police have already surrounded the building. At first, the trio believes they will be able to escape, thinking that the police will not endanger the haul (several million dollars) or the lives of a large number of policemen. In high spirits, the three of them set to defend the apartment and their freedom, while Nene and Angel rekindle their relationship and spend some short and erotic moments of mutual happiness. After the first wave of attacks, a contented Angel even says the "voices" he always heard have fallen silent.
The group soon finds out, however, that there is no way out. Cuervo dies in an attempt to sally, and Nene and Angel remain waiting for the next wave of police attacks on the apartment. Seeing that they can save neither their own lives nor the money, they burn the entire haul in a final outburst of joie de vivre
Joie de vivre
Joie de vivre is a French phrase often used in English to express a cheerful enjoyment of life; an exultation of spirit. Joie de vivre"can be a joy of conversation, joy of eating, joy of anything one might do… And joie de vivre may be seen as a joy of everything, a comprehensive joy, a philosophy...
.
Finally, Nene catches a bullet and dies in Angel's arms. Angel still holds Nene and sends a volley of bullets in the direction of the approaching police every now and again, when the lights fade out and the audience is left with the sound of the final fusillade of the police machine guns. It is implied that Angel committed suicide by cop
Suicide by cop
Suicide by cop is a suicide method in which a suicidal individual deliberately acts in a threatening way, with the goal of provoking a lethal response from a law enforcement officer or other armed individual, such as being shot to death....
.
Cast
- Leonardo SbaragliaLeonardo SbaragliaLeonardo Máximo Sbaraglia is a prominent Argentine film actor, with extensive credits in both Argentina and Spain.He has also worked in Mexico, and was cast in his first English-language role in Red Lights.-Life and work:...
as El Nene - Eduardo NoriegaEduardo Noriega (Spanish actor)Eduardo Noriega Gómez is a Spanish film actor, perhaps best known for his roles in two Alejandro Amenábar films, the multiple Goya Award-winning Tesis and Open Your Eyes . He also starred in The Wolf...
as Ángel - Pablo EcharriPablo EcharriPablo Daniel Echarri is a leading Argentine actor.He was born in Villa Dominico, Buenos Aires Province, and began his career on Argentine television in 1993...
as El Cuervo - Leticia BrédiceLeticia BrédiceLeticia Marcela Brédice is an Argentine award-winning actress. She was born in Buenos Aires, though her birthdate has been reported as both August 26, 1972 and December 26, 1972. She and Juan Pablo Sanguinetti had a son, Indio, on August 11, 2005....
as Giselle - Ricardo Bartis as Fontana
- Dolores FonziDolores FonziDolores Fonzi is an Argentine TV and film actress active since 1997.Several of her films have received critical acclaim such as Plata quemada , Esperando al mesías , El Fondo del mar and El Aura . Her brother, Tomás Fonzi is also an actor in the Cinema of Argentina...
as Vivi - Carlos RofféCarlos RofféCarlos Roffé was an Argentine film and television actor active between 1969 and 2005.He worked in the cinema of Argentina. IN 1985 he appeared as himself in Bailoretto, la aventura de un rebelde. In the late 1980s and early 1990s he appeared in a number of films of Alejandro Agresti...
as Nando - Daniel ValenzuelaDaniel ValenzuelaDaniel Valenzuela , is a prolific film and television actor. He has also done some screenplay writing. He works in the cinema of Argentina....
as Tabaré - Héctor Alterio as Losardo
- Claudio Rissi as Relator
- Luis Ziembrowsky as Florian Barrios
- Harry Havilio as Carlos Tulian
- Roberto Vallejos as Parisi
- Adriana VarelaAdriana VarelaAdriana Varela is a female Argentine tango singer, with a successful career that encompasses seven records, as well as minor movie roles.-Summary:...
as Cantante Cabaret
Historical background
The film is based on the true story of a hold-up in Buenos Aires in 1965 and the subsequent flight of the criminals to nearby Montevideo. The film makes several changes about the main characters, usually following Ricardo Piglia's book. El Nene, whose real name was Brignone, was actually the educated son of a judge; in an interview he said that he never knew what would happen with the money. He described Dorda –renamed Angel in the film– as the most good-natured of the robbers, whereas Malito –Fontana in the film– supposedly evoked fear. From pictures of Malito, he was probably considerably younger than the character in the film. El Cuervo's real name was Mereles.The film has been said to be more authentic than Ricardo Piglia's book on which it was based. The dates indicated at the end of the film (28 September to 4 November 1965), however, are not entirely accurate as the final attack on the fugitives' hiding place in Montevideo took place on Saturday, 6 November 1965. Three days earlier, the fugitives had stolen a car to exchange it for the stolen one they had, and thereby had provoked a shooting with the Uruguayan police; the shooting had taken place next to the TV channel canal 8 from Montevideo, which would later be the only channel with live coverage of the siege.
In the siege, both El Nene and Dorda/Angel died; according to a police officer who was interviewed for a documentary about the events and the release of Piñeyro's film, the bodies of the two were found holding hands; they were, however, separated before the official police photographs were taken from the location. Both were half-naked and in underwear, in a pool of blood, as shown in the film. In contrast to the movie, El Cuervo/Mereles was mortally wounded, but did not die during the siege. Spat on, hit, kicked and insulted by the police, he was relocated to a public hospital, where he died a few hours later. The three were anonymously buried in the Northern Cemetery of Montevideo at 8am on Wednesday, 10 November 1965. Only El Nene's body was reclaimed by his family and transferred back to Argentina. In February 1966, Malito/Fontana was seen in Flores, a Buenos Aires neighborhood, and there shot by the police.
Distribution
The film opened wide in Argentina on May 11, 2000. In the United States it opened on October 4, 2001, on a limited basis.The film was shown at various film festivals, including: the Toronto Film Festival, Canada; the Palm Springs International Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film Festival is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. It was started in 1989 and is held annually in January...
, United States; the Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
, Germany; and others.
Release dates
- Argentina: May 11, 2000.
- France: February 14, 2001.
- Spain: September 1, 2000.
- Uruguay: June 2, 2000.
Awards
Wins- Havana Film FestivalHavana Film FestivalThe Havana Film Festival is a Cuban festival that focuses on the promotion of Spanish-language filmmakers. It is also known in Spanish as Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana, and in English as Festival of New Latinamerican Cinema of La Havana.The festival takes place...
: Best Cinematography, Alfredo F. Mayo; Best Sound, Carlos Abbate and José Luis Díaz; 2000. - Goya AwardsGoya AwardsThe Goya Awards, known in Spanish as los Premios Goya, are Spain's main national film awards, considered by many in Spain, and internationally, to be the Spanish equivalent of the American Academy Awards....
: Goya; Best Spanish Language Foreign Film, Marcelo Piñeyro, Argentina; 2001. - Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor; Best Adapted Screenplay, Marcelo Piñeyro and Marcelo Figueras; 2001.
- Glitter Awards: Glitter Award; Best Feature voted by the U.S. Gay Film Festivals, Marcelo Piñeyro; 2002.
Nominations
- Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor, Best Actor, Leonardo Sbaraglia; Best Cinematography, Alfredo F. Mayo; Best Director, Marcelo Piñeyro; Best Editing, Juan Carlos Macías; Best Music, Osvaldo Montes; Best New Actress, Dolores Fonzi; 2001.
- Fotogramas de Plata, Spain: Fotogramas de Plata, Best Movie Actor, Eduardo Noriega; 2001.
- MTV Movie Awards, Latin America: MTV Movie Award, MTV South Feed (mostly Argentina) – Favorite Film, Marcelo Piñeyro; 2001.
External links
- Plata quemada at the cinenacional.comCinenacional.comCinenacional.com is a web portal and web-based database about Argentine cinema.The site provides a vast array of information, including: films, television programs, directors, actors, cinematographers, film editors, production designers, and other production professions in Argentina...
- Plata quemada trailer at The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...