"The Delinquents" -- Movie Review

 

This week at the 61^st New York Film Festival, I attended the U.S. Premiere of the new comedy-drama from Argentina, “The Delinquents”. 

Synopsis

When a bank employee embezzles money for his retirement, he asks a co-worker to temporarily hold onto the sum – but once this co-worker becomes involved, how will both of their lives change?

Story

Morán (Daniel Elías) works as a middle-management bank clerk in Buenos Aires; he hates his job, in part because he sees it as something of a dead-end.  Envisioning himself doing this for the next 25 years before he can retire is just too much to bear.  With access to cash in the bank’s safe, he decides to steal just enough money on which he can retire comfortably.  As he stashes the bills into his bag, he suddenly realizes that he’s a dead duck – the bank’s security cameras have captured him in the act; he’s going to be caught, fired from his job and sent to prison.  Therefore, Morán must quickly form a back-up plan.

That’s where Román (Esteban Bigliardi) comes into the picture; he’s one of Morán’s co-workers at the bank.  Meeting with him after work, Morán explains the situation to Román, who is understandably in disbelief.  Morán’s plan is simply this:  he’ll confess to the crime and be sent to prison; the standard sentence is six years, but with good behavior, he’ll be released in only three and a half years.  He asks Román to hold onto the money until he is let out of prison, at which point, they will split the funds.  Although Román can refuse, Morán warns him at this point, he’s already an accomplice, even if he doesn’t go along with the plan.  Reluctantly, Román agrees. 

While Román hides the money in the apartment he shares with his girlfriend and their children, Morán heads to a rural area with the intent of turning himself into the police.  Once in prison, he suddenly discovers how tough life can be and asks Román to direct some funds to a bank account in order to pay protection.  Meanwhile, the bank begins an investigation, causing some to be laid off or in the case of Román, demoted.  Morán is visited by Román and directs him to somehow deliver a letter to a woman he met during his detour, before turning himself into the law.  When he agrees to do so, how will this woman’s reaction alter each man’s life?    

Review

Although the genre is labelled as a comedy-drama, it would probably be more accurate to describe it as an existential fable.  At three hours, “The Delinquents” is undeservedly and unnecessarily long.  The movie is split into two parts, which, ideally, should be shown separately, rather than during a single viewing.  If, however, it is the intent of the director to watch both parts in a single viewing, then a great deal of editing would be necessary.  For example, there is an extended scene of a picnic, which turns out to be crucial to the resolution of the story, but it could have been considerably shortened and still ultimately made its point.   

Another problem with the movie has to do with the way the story is laid out – basically, a structural issue.  Part Two of “The Delinquents” is almost entirely a flashback.  The reliance on flashbacks, especially one as long as this, reveals something of a weakness in the way a filmmaker tells their story.  Generally speaking, it usually shows either one of two things:  (1) the filmmaker realized they should have had the scene(s) earlier in the film for an important plot point but forgot to include it, so they tack it on later as if to say, “I meant to do that” or (2) to intentionally force a dramatic point to the story, introduced late, as if to be a surprise twist or shock.  In this case, it may be more of the latter than the former.   

Writer-Director Rodrigo Moreno was interviewed following the screening.  At the outset, he half-jokingly congratulated the audience for surviving his three-hour movie.  The original idea for “The Delinquents” came from a 1949 film he saw that was about a bank heist.  He extended the idea by thinking about what if the heist was done by someone who was just sick of working and is just doing it for the money?  The idea of someone not working anymore was what interested him.  He went back and forth rewriting drafts of the script for five years.  Moreno instructed his actors not to improvise because he doesn’t like the way actors sound when they try to do so.