It can be good, those reminders that you live in a bubble. Yours may be bigger than many others, but there will still be certain blind spots. Case in point — and hopefully a strong case — is the kidnapping drama El Clan (as our non-Spanish-speaking readers may not know, this translates to The Clan), which Variety tell us “has touched a national nerve in its native Argentina, positioning the film, tipped for a big late summer/fall fest berth, as Argentina’s most expected movie title of the year.” Chalk it up to two matters of national identity. First is the fact that it’s based on the Puccios, a “well-heeled Buenos Aires family” that kidnapped their neighbors in exchange for top-dollar ransoms — only to kill their kidnappees after receiving the money. Second is the leading-man presence of Guillermo Francella, the country’s “best known and most loved comedian” who will play father of the Puccio family.
Its first trailer is a graphic bit of work, starting with a jump-scare long take and, from there, consisting almost entirely of quick shots containing violence, sex, deceit, and torment — the kind of stuff that, if well-done, would get right under the skin of Argentinian national pride. Now we’ll see if it can make a splash there and, in turn, come to the United States. Otherwise, the “controversy” will have been no more than a flare-up.
Watch the preview below:
