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Stamp act
It's hard to guess who's outfoxing whom in "Nine Queens," a caper from Argentina involving 450,000 bucks, nine rare German stamps, a sexy temptress, a rich Venezuelan and many twists and turns.
By ROBIN EISGRAU
Offoffoff.com
(Originally reviewed at the 2001 New Directors New Films festival.)
This impressive debut film from Argentinian director Fabian Bielinsky has many engaging twists and turns as it tells the tale of two con artists. The younger of the two, Juan (Gaston Pauls) is trying to pull off a small-time
bill switch in a convenience store when Marcos (Ricardo Darin) catches him
and, with a toy gun in his pants, pretends to "arrest" him. Marcos encourages
Juan to become partners with him and although Juan is reluctant at first, he
agrees.
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| NINE QUEENS |
Original title: Nueve Reinas.
Written and directed by: Fabian Bielinsky.
Cast: Ignasi Abadal, Alejandro Awada, Elsa Berenguer, Leticia Bredice, Ricardo Darin,
Leo Dyzen, Ricardo Diaz Mourelle, Carlos Falcone, Tomas Fonzi, Celia Juarez, Carlos Lanari,
Jorge Noya, Oscar Nunez, Gaston Pauls..
In Spanish with English subtitles.
Related links:
Official site
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They do some low-level grifting until a phone call from Marcos' sexy
sister Valeria (Leticia Bredice) leads him to his old partner, who tells him of a caper that
will really bring in the big bucks. This involves selling a forgery of nine
Weimar-era stamps (the "Nine Queens" of the title) to a rich Venezuelan collector who's
desperate to buy them before he leaves the country the next morning.
Everybody wants a cut of the deal and then there's the matter of
the inheritance Marcos has swindled Valeria and their little brother out of.
The stamps get stolen and as the swindling gets more complex you wonder
who's really scamming whom here and the ending is quite a surprise.
"Nine
Queens" succeeds all around; the maze-like plot keeps the viewer guessing
as to what's really going on and the tense chemistry between Juan and
Marcos makes for a sly tweaking of the buddy genre. Unlike a run-of-the-mill
action film where car chases and people shooting each other pass for
exposition, this film is an intelligent essay on the value of dialogue. If
you enjoy a good puzzle, viewing "Nine Queens" will be a treat.
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MARCH 22, 2001
OFFOFFOFF.COM • THE GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE NEW YORK
Reader comments on Nine Queens:
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| • | not venezuelan from Guillermo, May 29, 2001 |
| | • | Re: not venezuelan from Tomas, Sept. 25, 2001 |
| | | • | Re: not venezuelan from Rosa, Oct. 28, 2001 |
| | | | • | Re: not venezuelan from Jaime, Feb. 19, 2002 |
| | | | | • | Re: not venezuelan from Gus, March 22, 2002 |
| | | | | | • | "Nine Queens" is like "Memento" from Fernando, April 22, 2002 |
| | | | | | | • | Re: "Nine Queens" is like "Memento& from Andy, Aug. 2, 2002 |
| | | | | | | | • | Mustard Chuckers, Petermen, and other scammers from Dezza, Oct. 25, 2002 |
| | | | | | | | | • | Re: Mustard Chuckers, Petermen, and other scammers from Bill Hicks, Aug. 1, 2003 |
| | | | | | • | Re: not venezuelan from Javier, Jan. 13, 2003 |
| | | | | • | Re: not venezuelan from Fatima, Aug. 17, 2003 |
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| • | Incredible movie! from Denise, July 10, 2001 |
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| • | Cool fun flick from José Manuel, June 9, 2002 |
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| • | Great Movie from Ahkin Mejia, June 21, 2002 |
| | • | Re: Great Movie from Sam, April 2, 2004 |
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| • | Kept me guessing from Rob, June 23, 2002 |
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| • | Does anybode..? from Merlijn, Nov. 23, 2002 |
| | • | Re: Does anybode..? from capr, July 7, 2003 |
| | • | Re: Does anybode..? from darcy, Nov. 18, 2003 |
| | • | Re: Does anybode..? from Alejandro, Feb. 9, 2004 |
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| • | impression about nueve reinas from nondas, July 8, 2004 |
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| • | leticia bredice is hot!!!!! from Tim, Oct. 30, 2006 |
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