Twists and turns to the nines
Much fun to be had figuring out Nine Queens
REVIEW
NINE QUEENS
Starring Gastón Pauls and Ricardo Darín
Written and directed by Fabián Bielinsky
Opens Friday, September 6
Uptown Screen
The art of a good swindle lies in the ability to understand human nature and if writer-director Fabián Bielinsky left filmmaking behind, he could survive quite nicely on the streets. Nine Queens is a charming suspense story without gunfire or explosions and it only has one chase scene, which is really no contest because it involves two guys on foot chasing a motorbike. All of the suspense comes from figuring out "Who’s doing what to whom?"
Juan (Gastón Pauls) gets caught trying to pull the same grift twice in a convenience store. Just before the police are called, a Good (Bad) Samaritan, posing as a police officer, steps in to save him. Marcos (Ricardo Darín) is also a scam artist – and he's in need of a partner. And when you are a con artist, you don’t want your partner to be smarter than you, so the hapless rookie will do in a pinch.
As the two set forth for a day of relieving the innocent of their nickels and dimes, a huge job falls into their laps. Is it too good to be true? Yes. No. Yes. No.... The temptation is too much for the boys to turn away, suspicion is tempered by greed and they decide to go for it. Barring their way is Marcos’s sister, a woman with a straight job and the guardian of their naive younger brother, who thinks Marcos is basically a good man. In fact, Marcos has swindled his own family by managing to become the sole inheritor of their grandparents’ estate.
In the meantime, the title of the film comes from the prize that is up for grabs – rare, misprinted stamps from the Weimar Republic called "Nine Queens." A much bigger criminal than Marcos and Juan is about to be deported and he needs some assets he can take with him. He also happens to be a big stamp collector.
Mishaps, mistrust and other crooks make this seemingly simple transaction of selling stamps very difficult and complicated. For Juan, it is doubly difficult – if he doesn’t get this money, his old father, a swindler himself, will spend many years behind bars in a rough Argentinean prison.
This is director Bielinsky’s first feature film, but you’d never know it. He uses visuals to tell us about the characters, the plot and the state of Argentina (not so great these days). He toys with the audience, and just when you think you’ve got it figured out, the characters show you that they are two steps ahead. At the end of Nine Queens you might have an irresistible urge to check to see if you still have your wallet. When you go back in to look for it, stay for another viewing – the film is just as much fun when you know all the answers. |
