You have said Lifelong

Rating: 8/10 (5 September 2019)

Quite impressive cinema from Argentina that surely deserves its Oscar.
The strength of the movie is that it works on various levels. It is telling a murder and two love stories at the same time. On top, it is also a movie about the existing corruption and injustice in Argentina. This is narrated along the way by means of the crime story. Maybe this unobtrusiveness makes it seep in even deeper. Welcome to South America.
The performance of the actors is generally good, but the most striking one comes from Guillermo Francella who is giving the side character of court investigator Pablo Sandeval, an alcoholic who loves his drinking and calls it his passion. Nonetheless, his contribution to solving the criminal case is quite essential.
I also like the fact that this is an all-Argentinian movie, which gives an inside view to a country, which is not only corrupt but also crazy for soccer. This can be seen in the chasing scene in the stadium of Racing Club. The whole atmosphere comes across quite realistic including the shabby conditions of the stadium's sanitary facilities.
For what it's worth, it is also interesting to see that apparently French cars dominated the Argentinian car market in the last decades of the 20th century as Benjamin uses a Peugeot in the flashbacks to the 1970's and uses a Renault in the year 2000. This may be unimportant but as a European, I was surprised to see these familiar cars in the Americas.
Of higher relevance may be the fact that the film is not finished with catching the murderer but still holds its biggest surprise in store. No spoilers in this matter but let me reveal here that Soledad Villamil who is giving the judge Irene is really a beautiful lady ...