White Elephant (2012)
"Elefante blanco" (original title)

While working alongside his long-time friend and colleague in building a hospital for the residents of a Buenos Aries shantytown, a troubled priest finds solace in a young, atheist social worker.

Director:

Pablo Trapero

Writers:

Alejandro Fadel, Martín Mauregui,

Stars:

Ricardo Darín, Jérémie Renier, Martina Gusman

6 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Ricardo Darín	...	Julián
Jérémie Renier	...	Nicolás (as Jeremie Renier)
Martina Gusman	...	Luciana
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Miguel Arancibia	...	Capataz
Federico Barga	...	Monito
Esteban Díaz	...	Chato
Pablo Gatti	...	Sandoval
Walter Jakob	...	Cruz
Raul Ramos	...	Obispo
Susana Varela	...	Carmelita
Julio Zarza	...	Danilo

Storyline

The "Villa Virgin", a shantytown in the slums of Buenos Aires. Julian and Nicolas, two priests and long-standing friends, work tirelessly to help the local people. Julian uses his political connections to oversee the construction of a hospital. Nicolas joins him following the failure of a project he was leading in the jungle, after paramilitary forces assassinated members of the community. Deeply troubled, he finds a little comfort in Luciana, a young, attractive, atheist social worker. As Nicolas' faith weakens, tension and violence between the slum drug dealing cartels grow. And when work on the hospital is halted by ministerial decree, the fuse is lit...

---

Plot Keywords:

slum | social worker | priest | jungle | faith | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Argentina Spain France

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

17 May 2012 (Argentina)

Also Known As:

White Elephant

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$5,098 (USA) (29 March 2013)

Gross:

$7,519 (USA) (5 April 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ARTE, Canal Plus, Canal+ España

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Televisión registrada: Ricardo Darín (2012)

---

Soundtracks

"Las cosas que no se tocan"
Written by Pity Álvarez
Performed by Intoxicados

User Reviews

Reality hits hard.

The perfect portray of human hypocrisy. I guess the actual message in this movie is that nothing really ends, nor the struggle for a better life or the evil that keeps people from getting a better life.

Some other reviewer stated this kind of story had already been told... Well has it?. Not this one in particular, I think the characters are quite real. Both main characters and extras have done a wonderful job keeping it real, nothing i have seen in Argentinian films for a while.

The shots are beautiful and seem to capture very well the actual landscape of the "villas". Music on the other hand doesn't live up to the most dramatic moments in the film, and personally I think it could have been improved.

To sum up "Elefante blanco" is definitely a movie to be watched, and mostly a message to be heard.