Argentina has selected Rodrigo Moreno’s heist movie The Delinquents / Los delincuentes as its Oscar contender for the Best International Film competition. The film had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and recently had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, followed by the New York Film Festival. MUBI will release the film on Friday, October 18 in US theaters.
Starring Esteban Bigliardi, Daniel Elías and Margarita Molfino, The Delinquents tells the story of Morán, a bank employee in Buenos Aires who dreams up a risky plan to liberate himself and his co-worker Román from the shackles of working life: Morán will steal enough cash from the bank to fund their retirement if Román hides the money for him after he confesses and serves prison time; in three years’ time, they’ll reunite, split the cash, and never have to work again.
Departing to the countryside to fulfill his side of the deal, the less adventurous Román finds himself transformed by Morán’s idyllic vision of economic liberation far from the rigors of urban life. But what is the true cost of freedom? From writer-director Moreno (two-time Berlin Golden Bear nominee The Custodian, A Mysterious World) comes an existential probe into the work-life balance and what happens when it’s shattered and replaced with something radical and new.
Argentina is the only Latin American country to have won the Oscar for Best International Film twice: for The Official Story / La historia oficial in 1985, and The Secret in Their Eyes / El secreto en sus ojos in 2009. Santiago Mitre’s courtroom drama Argentina, 1985 nabbed an Oscar nomination last year.
