By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Pablo Trapero
Starring: Jérémie Renier | Martina Gusman | Ricardo Darín
Original language title: Elefante Blanco
Country: argentina, france, spain
Year: 2013
Running time: 105
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2132324/combined
Bruce says: “The ‘hidden cities,’ the slums of Buenos Aires, are not as famous as the favelas of Rio de Janeiro but that may be because they are a more recent phenomenon. The tribal people of the western mountains bordering Chile and Bolivia are being forced out of their communities by ruthless land grabbers who kill whole villages if the people won’t hand over the land. Having nowhere to go, they end up living hand-to-mouth in the urban slums. The slums are gun ridden and ruled by drug lords. Ordinary citizens do not dare to walk the streets.
“WHITE ELEPHANT begins with an MRI, a massacre and a manhunt. Father Julián (Ricardo Darin) is the man getting the MRI. Father Nicholás (Jérémie Renier) is the man being hunted. The two priests have worked together in the past and Father Julián decides Father Nicholás should be his successor at his parish in the Villa Virgin slum on the outskirts of Buenos Aires near the airport. Looming over the Villa Virgin slum is a huge skeleton of a building originally intended to be a major hospital before the government finally decided it did not want to invest additional sums to complete the structure. Now home to 300 families and several priests it is the slum’s centerpiece dubbed by residents the ‘White Elephant.’
“Father Julián quickly discovers he and Father Nicholás have different approaches vis-à-vis the parishioners. Father Nicholás rolls up his sleeves and gets actively involved in local issues. Father Julián takes a more distant approach, playing politics with the Bishop and construction companies and keeping his interaction with the parishioners within the realm of his religious duties. When Father Nicholás negotiates with a drug lord, Father Julián becomes enraged.
“The other key figure in the slum is Luciana, an attractive, dedicated social worker that toils to ensure the workers get paid and when they don’t to keep them working. She actively pursues both sides of the issues. There is immediate chemistry between Luciana (Martina Gusman) and Father Nicholás and they soon become lovers. Perhaps Father Nicholás is more flawed and damaged than he appears. A young man is murdered. Father Julián’s health takes a turn for the worse. The future of the slum is looking more hopeless than ever.
“Ricardo Darin shines in his role – he is one of those actors who commands the screen in a subtle and natural way. Several people in the audience commented that Jérémie Renier seemed out of place. In my opinion, that is an appropriate response. He is a wealthy Belgian, a social misfit, who has come to another continent to live among the poor; he is not one of them. Director Pablo Trapero (ROLLING FAMILY, LION’S DEN, CARANCHO) filmed nearly three quarters of WHITE ELEPHANT on location. Martina Gusman (in real life married to Trapero) worked with real social workers to better understand her character. Darin and Renier worked with the local priests as well. While relentlessly grim, WHITE ELEPHANT does its job of documenting a sub-culture quite well. Slums such as Villa Virgin are noted stomping grounds for the new Pope, Francis I, who has a hands-on reputation in regard to the Buenos Aires slums. 4 cats
“(WHITE ELEPHANT screened at the 2013 Miami International Film Festival.)”