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White Elephant

Play trailer Poster for White Elephant 2012 1h 50m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 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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White Elephant

White Elephant

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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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Critics Reviews

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Derek Malcolm London Evening Standard 04/26/2013
4/5
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. Go to Full Review
Tim Robey Daily Telegraph (UK) 04/25/2013
4/5
[A] potent drama about the lawless slums of Buenos Aires - it feels like The Mission with all exoticism firmly excised. Go to Full Review
Antonia Quirke Financial Times 04/25/2013
3/5
The film tries to do too much and its power is on a sliding scale downward, but at times it is ultra-vivid. Go to Full Review
Diego Batlle Otroscines.com 08/18/2023
4/5
It is clear Trapero went for the urgent, the instinctual, the power of the image. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Juan Pablo Russo EscribiendoCine 07/31/2023
9/10
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] Go to Full Review
Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com 08/05/2019
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. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Daniel G 11/30/2024 One of several movies by Pablo Trapero that I've been eager to watch. Impactful almost documentary-like movie which is a social commentary, but even more an engaging film about people who've chosen a challenging life in what seems (and is described by them) as an eternal and complex problem situation from which there seems to be little escape: poverty and violence in Latin America. If it had only a bit more focused, this would have been perfect, but when so many cast members seem more like extras and who appear only briefly, not delving deeper into their motivations, it's a bit frustrating. See more 09/03/2016 Heftige en indrukwekkende film over twee priesters in krottenwijk van Buenos Aires. See more 04/02/2016 Well-produced; dramatic and realistic. See more 06/20/2015 good drama i dont think doc though See more Walter M @Harlequin68 11/30/2014 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. See more 07/11/2014 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 See more Read all reviews
White Elephant

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Movie Info

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
Maneki Films, arte France Cinéma, 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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