THE AURA

Esteban Espinosa (Ricardo Darín) is a taxidermist in Buenos Aires, a withdrawn man with a photographic memory and epilepsy. Before every seizure he experiences the aura, a moment of perfect clarity. In his mind he plans perfect heists without ever daring to carry one out. When his wife leaves him, he accepts an acquaintance’s invitation to a hunting trip in the forests of Patagonia. There he accidentally shoots a man dead – and discovers that the dead man had been planning a robbery of an armoured van carrying casino takings. Esteban steps into his plan. Fabián Bielinsky tells, in “The Aura” (Argentina 2005, original title “El aura”), the story of a man who acts for the first time.

After “Nueve reinas”, it was Bielinsky’s second feature film and his last; he died in 2006. The film combines neo-noir with a psychological interior view, in which crime appears as a question of perception. Argentina submitted it for the Foreign Language Oscar. “The Aura” was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2007.

Shown at the 2007 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2007 · Film Archive