The Clan (El Clan)
Director: Pablo Trapero
Review by Clem Wetherall
From out of Argentina comes The Clan, an unflinching examination of state-sanctioned crime continuing to thrive in the aftermath of war in the 1980s.
Directed and produced by Pablo Trapero, The Clan hones in on the true-crime story of the Puccio family and explores the conditions in which they became the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde of wealthy Argentinian society. Indeed, the Puccios story seemed so far fetched that on release of the movie, more than 30 years after their crimes were brought to light, old friends reportedly still came to the Puccios defence – unable to comprehend that their friendly, wholesome and polite neighbours could have been involved in the disappearances and murders of mutual friends.
The Clan closely follows the story of steely-eyed patriarch Arquímedes Puccio (Guillermo Francella) as he carves out a new career for himself after the end of the Falklands War. It is heavily implied that his role as an intelligence officer for the military involved the ‘disappearing’ of dissenters and so, in return for his ‘past services’, he is confident in pursuing wealth by whatever means with relative impunity. Shown in stark contrast alongside our patriarch’s grand plan is the story of his son Alex – an successful football player in his own right – who finds himself entangled in his fathers dirty business as he pursues fame, love and life outside his family in the newly democratised Argentina.
While cinematically gorgeous and evenly paced, the film unfortunately struggles to get the tone quite right. The use of cheesy 80s pop music often overlaid on violent and calculating scenes is surely meant to make your skin crawl – but it often teeters too close to comedy or slapstick to take as seriously as the situation warrants. And while the film is stylistically reminiscent of a Scorsese film – the visuals can’t compensate for the under-developed support cast. Outside of Arquimedes and Alex there is not a lot to learn about the remaining family members, and in the case of the Matriarch her story lies tantalisingly unexplained.
“…a timeless story of a crumbling dynasty, out of touch with the modern world, and under the thumb of generations past.”
With enough Hollywood muscle and action to hold up on the big screen and a snappy script and pace, there are far worse ways you could spend a couple of hours, this is after all a timeless story of a crumbling dynasty, out of touch with the modern world, and under the thumb of generations past. But just beyond their locked gate is the story of post-war Argentina, a country struggling to escape the baggage and blood of the dirty war. It’s a shame this broader context quickly becomes a bit player to the families machinations of power and greed.
THE CLAN opens August 4 and is Exclusive to Cinema Nova, Carlton
