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The Clan
El clan

Pablo Trapero  •   Argentina/Spain  • ​  2015
108 mins  •  HD  •   R13 violence, offensive language & sex scenes
​
 ​In Spanish with English subtitles

This 80s true crime drama unravels the exploits of a well-connected Buenos Aires businessman and his rugby-star son and their ruthless kidnapping and ransom operation. 

“Audaciously entertaining… full of Scorsese-like swagger” – Telegraph
DIRECTOR/SCREENPLAY: Pablo Trapero
PRODUCERS: Hugo Sigman, Matías Mosterín, Agustín Almodóvar, Pedro Almodóvar, Esther García, Pablo Trapero
PRODUCTION CO: Kramer & Sigman Films, Matanza Cine, El Deseo
PHOTOGRAPHY: Julián Apezteguía
EDITORS: Pablo Trapero, Alejandro Carrillo Penovi
MUSIC: Sebastián Escofet
WITH: Guillermo Francella (Arquímedes), Peter Lanzani (Alejandro), Lili Popovich (Epifanía), Gastón Cocchiarale (Maguila), Giselle Motta (Silvia), Franco Masini (Guillermo), Antonia Bengoechea (Adriana), Stefania Koessl (Mónica, Alejandro’s girlfriend)

AWARDS: Silver Lion, Venice 2015

REVIEW

“There are scary dads, and then there’s Arquímedes Puccio (Guillermo Francella, a terrifying dead-behind-the-eyes presence). The suburban Buenos Aires patriarch implicated his entire family in a series of kidnappings of their wealthy neighbours over a number of years, keeping his victims in the basement of his home so that they would suffer and scream below while the family sat down to dinner. 

Puccio’s crimes began as state-sponsored acts during the late 1970s military dictatorship but he continued under his own steam during the transfer to democracy – and one of the film’s big themes is how high-level corruption can seep down in horrible, unpredictable, painful ways. 

Director Pablo Trapero recalls the case in gruesome, macabre detail, exploring it with energy and élan from the perspective of the family and focusing especially on Arquímedes’s fraught power relationship with his eldest son, Alejandro (Peter Lanzani). 

​The Clan shouldn’t be as enjoyable as it is. But it’s a delight to be in the hands of a storyteller who can impress you with his stylistic bravado while never losing sight of the suffering at the story’s heart.”

— Dave Calhoun, Time Out


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New Zealand Federation of Film Societies  |  PO Box 9544, Te Aro, Wellington, NZ  
Phone: +64 4 385 0162  |  Fax: +64 4 801 7304  |  Email: [email protected]
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • SOCIETIES
    • AUCKLAND
    • HAMILTON
    • TAURANGA
    • NEW PLYMOUTH
    • WHANGANUI
    • PALMERSTON NORTH
    • CARTERTON
    • WELLINGTON
    • NELSON
    • CANTERBURY
    • TIMARU
    • OAMARU
    • QUEENSTOWN
    • DUNEDIN
    • WESTPORT
  • 2025 SEASON
    • SWEDISH CINEMA
    • KUROSAWA
    • PECKINPAH'S WEST
    • COMEDY CORNER
    • GHOST STORIES
    • NZ FILM
    • RETRO CLASSICS
    • FRENCH CONNECTIONS
    • GERMAN CINEMA
    • WORLD CINEMA