The con artist-scamming-con artist theme in Nine Queens is one we have seen before, in movies such as Ocean’s Eleven and House of Games. This certainly shows globalization: the rapidly paced action and dialogue are both very Hollywood, some of the accents and characters - such as the main mark, Gandalfo - are Spanish, and there is even the constant hint of Italian seen in the mentions of singer Rita Pavone.
These widespread influences are important, to be sure, but there is no denying the local, Argentine influences on Nine Queens. The movie is, indeed, a composite of the cultural problems and attitudes that years of political and economic unrest have created in Argentina. We firstly see constantly changing scenery, stressing the differences in the lives of people in the city streets, who seem to be either scammers or defenseless marks, and people in the richly appointed hotel, who are either staff or corrupt businessman-types. We also see a deeply individualistic message throughout the movie: each character only appears to be looking out for his or her own interests. These characters are willing to double, triple, and quadruple cross everyone from strangers to blood relatives, all the while insisting that they are not scammers. However, the movie does end with a message of hope, showing that when the good guys work together, they can sometimes beat the bad guys – this, I believe, symbolizes the hope that Argentinians have for a more stable, honest society.
-Samantha Thomson
Nine Queens Trailer
Very good analysis of the film. The mentioning of the Rita Pavone song that is involved throughout the movie was a nice touch to add another element of globalization. Also, the mentioning of how every character is seemingly serving his own interest when in reality they are working together as a team is a good method of conveying the point you're trying to make. Very well written.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your assessment that the political and cultural unrest evident in the movie reflects Argentinean society. These elements of the film would certainly not be at home in a Hollywood blockbuster, showing that there are distinctly national influences on the film. The con-artist theme is common in Hollywood blockbusters, but it is up for debate whether the presence of such a theme is a sign of globalization or an independent invention of the society that produces the film.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you call Juan and his band "the good guys". Can they really be considered the good guys? I mean they just created a whole world just to fool one man out of his money. Not only is that bad, it's just downright cruel. To me it seems a little too much to just label Marcos as the villain. By the end of the movie, I felt more sympathetic to him rather than Juan.
ReplyDeleteExcellent - I liked the mention of the dichotomy between the scammers and the marks, the corrupt and the honest. The whole movie is told from the perspective of the scammers, so you don't ever really sympathize with the innocents either. Come to think of it, you never even see the ramifications of the scams in the lives of the marks - they are just forgotten, as though your own conscience isn't concerned. Very good review.
ReplyDeleteYour film response should serve as a model for the rest. The synopsis is synthetic, but sufficient. Then, you proceed to analyze the film based on the concepts we have discussed in class and in very insightful manner. The clip is a great touch.
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