White Elephant

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White Elephant

2012

1h 50m

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

95%

Tomatometer

21 Reviews

56%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

Julian and Nicolas work tirelessly to help people in a shantytown outside Buenos Aires. After a project is ruined, Nicolas joins Julian in the jungle and finds comfort in Luciana, an attractive social worker.

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Critics Consensus

White Elephant thoughtfully delivers an old-fashioned social drama inspired by true events with technical mastery.

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Derek Malcolm

London Evening Standard

The drama is intense but fractured as Trapero shows how millions of poverty-stricken people live in his home country, and how a few brave people attempt to do something about it.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 26, 2013

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Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

[A] potent drama about the lawless slums of Buenos Aires - it feels like The Mission with all exoticism firmly excised.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 25, 2013

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Antonia Quirke

Financial Times

The film tries to do too much and its power is on a sliding scale downward, but at times it is ultra-vivid.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 25, 2013

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Diego Batlle

Otroscines.com

It is clear Trapero went for the urgent, the instinctual, the power of the image. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 4/5

Aug 18, 2023

Full Review

Juan Pablo Russo

EscribiendoCine

White Elephant is a great movie that follows the ideology of a director that, without becoming a sellout, makes movies within the margins of accessibility. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 9/10

Jul 31, 2023

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

The film embraces the idiom it invokes, becoming a burdensome film whose cost, time, and effort consuming it is definitely out of proportion to what the end result can deliver.

Aug 5, 2019

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Audience Member

Heftige en indrukwekkende film over twee priesters in krottenwijk van Buenos Aires.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

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Audience Member

Well-produced; dramatic and realistic.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

good drama i dont think doc though

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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walter m

After barely surviving a village massacre, Father Nicolas(Jeremie Renier) returns to the city slums to rejoin Father Julian(Ricardo Darin) in his continuing work that goes beyond just their ecclesiastical duties. So, while the residents work on constructing their own housing, the priests get to handle the bureaucracy, aided by Luciana(Martina Gusman). Proving once and for all that nothing can compare to location work, "White Elephant" seeks to tell a moving story about martyrdom in South America, while honoring a real life martyr at the same time. Even with some exquisite tracking shots, the fact that the movie is not as successful as it could have been is down primarily to its being more focused on Nicolas than on Julian, the more interesting of the two priests. Plus, while Jeremie Renier is certainly not chopped liver, compared to the great Ricardo Darin, one is free to choose whatever lunch meat metaphor wants.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Genial película de Pablo Trapero con la actuación de Ricardo Darín. Se trata de un grandìsimo hospital abandonado, convertido en un refugio de marginales. Un cura tratarà de salvar de la droga y el crimen a la gente, pero se enfrenta con una sociedad decadente, injusta, corrupta y peligrosa. Film bastante duro

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

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Audience Member

Emotive social/spiritual drama.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

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Pablo Trapero

Director

Ricardo Darín

Julián

Jérémie Renier

Nicolás

Martina Gusmán

Luciana

Miguel Arancibia

Capataz

Federico Barga

Monito

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Synopsis

Julian and Nicolas work tirelessly to help people in a shantytown outside Buenos Aires. After a project is ruined, Nicolas joins Julian in the jungle and finds comfort in Luciana, an attractive social worker.

Director: Pablo Trapero
Producer: Juan Gordon, Pablo Trapero, Pablo Rossi
Screenwriter: Alejandro Fadel, Martín Mauregui, Santiago Mitre, Pablo Trapero
Production Co: arte France Cinéma, Maneki Films, Morena Films S.L., Patagonik Film Group, Matanza Cine, Borsalino Productions
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: European Spanish
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 29, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $8.9K
Runtime: 1h 50m

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