And no matter where one is, one always has a sense of being watched. One of Yvan’s clients is mourning the disappearance of his adult daughter only later do we learn she was part of a political group targeted by the junta. While attending a horse race, they are stopped by military officers who want to check their IDs. Upon arriving in Argentina, Yvan and Inés are startled to see two young men, barely more than boys, thrust against the wall by soldiers. The military junta may have taken over Argentina, but the world of Yvan’s clients has not yet radically changed, though the darkness is slowly but surely encroaching on their idyllic, sun-dappled lives. Indeed, almost everything in Azor is spoken of in a whisper, albeit one with an underlying tone of menace when the super-rich are talking about trading stocks, it sounds like they’re plotting murder. Keys, however, was apparently the opposite-an exuberant man who had many friends but was also the subject of many whispered rumors about his “depraved” conduct. It’s in his blood to preserve the institution’s good name. But that’s no surprise, as we quickly learn he was raised that way Yvan’s grandfather founded the bank and his father consolidated it. Meanwhile, Inés chats up the wives, observes the children, and offers Yvan valuable feedback on almost everything, including what style of suit to wear to meet certain clients.Ī slight, soft-spoken person with an innocuous appearance, Yvan is inherently discrete-the exact kind of person you’d want to handle your valuable assets. Their mission is about much more than just mere glad-handing Keys, one of Yvan’s partners in the bank and the main contact for most of these Argentine clients, has mysteriously disappeared, and Yvan must make necessary assurances that the bank is still worthy of being trusted. Yvan De Wiel ( Fabrizio Rongione) arrives in Argentina from Switzerland accompanied by his posh wife, Inés ( Stephanie Cléau) to visit several of the clients of the private bank in which he is a partner. Violence is not overtly visible, but it ominously bubbles beneath the surface of every conversation, on the verge of boiling over into their privileged lives and scorching everything they hold dear-which, for this particular set of people, is primarily their wealth. Set in the late 1970s, when the military junta in Argentina was waging their “Dirty War,” the film follows a Swiss banker and his wife as they navigate the glamorous drawing rooms and glittering swimming pools of the Argentine elite following the abrupt disappearance of a colleague. Find out more here.The debut feature from Swiss filmmaker Andreas Fontana, Azor is a sophisticated and sinister thriller suffused with a lasting feeling of unease. Explore the full season here.Īs we move into the next stage of life in the pandemic, you might like to read more our current measures. VISIONS OF EUROPE: From 8-21 April, QFT celebrates the breadth of vision of European cinema, and bids a fond farewell to Europa Cinemas, with a season of 21 handpicked films. Written in collaboration with Argentinian filmmaker Mariano Llinás ( La Flor), Azor is a riveting look at international intrigue worthy of John le Carré or Graham Greene. Moving through the smoke-filled lounges and lush gardens of a society under intense surveillance, he finds himself untangling a sinister web of colonialism, high finance, and a nation's “Dirty War”. Set in Buenos Aires, the film follows private banker Yvan (Fabrizio Rongione, Two Days, One Night) as he arrives from Geneva with his wife Ines (Stéphanie Cléau) to replace a mysteriously missing colleague and placate their moneyed clientele. Atmospheric and slyly seductive, this sophisticated political thriller teems with exquisite scenery and ominous conversation. With the country in the clutches of a military dictatorship, violence is always simmering just under the surface.
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