El Aura (The Aura) (2005)

89% of critics liked it
(45 reviews)
74% of users liked it
(4,718 ratings)

A lonely taxidermist with a photographic memory dreams of committing the "perfect crime" in Nine Queens director Fabián Bielinsky's deliberately paced existential thriller. Espinosa (Ricardo Darín) is an epileptic fortysomething who makes his living by stuffing creatures for the natural history… More A lonely taxidermist with a photographic memory dreams of committing the "perfect crime" in Nine Queens director Fabián Bielinsky's deliberately paced existential thriller. Espinosa (Ricardo Darín) is an epileptic fortysomething who makes his living by stuffing creatures for the natural history museum in Buenos Aires. It is there that Espinosa meets friend and fellow taxidermist Sontag (Alejandro Awada). After picking up their paycheck at a nearby bank, Sontag kindly invites the lonely Espinosa to join him in the forests of southern Argentina for a brief hunting getaway. Soon after checking into their hotel, Sontag and Espinosa take to nature in hopes of bagging a buck, but their voyage takes a dark turn when, in the grip of another seizure, Espinosa accidentally shoots and kills hotel owner Dietrich (Manuel Rodal). Though his suspicions that Dietrich was involved with some shady dealings seem little more than a means for justifying the tragic turn of events, Espinosa soon realizes that he may be onto something when a pair of thugs named Sosa (Pablo Cedron) and Montero (Walter Reyno) come searching for the missing proprietor. As all of the elements quickly fall into place, it begins to appear as if Espinosa may finally be prepared to execute the crime he has always dreamt about. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 2 hr. 14 min.
Directed By: Fabián Bielinsky
Written By: Fabián Bielinsky
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense

In Theaters: Nov 15, 2006 Limited
On DVD: Apr 10, 2007
Studio: IFC First Take

Critic Reviews

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
A fuzzy attempt at significance that seems as aimlessly lost in the woods as its heist-plotting characters.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
The Aura is richer and less showy than Nine Queens, and it lifts off from the gangster genre to contemplate deeper mysteries. Reminiscent of Antonioni's The Passenger in its obsession with fate and choice.
Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter
Bielinsky also is a most expressive director, achieving considerable nuances and depths of emotion with characters' looks, gestures, body language and silences.
David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle
In the end, the film's bigger challenge isn't its length, or its deliberate pace: It's that it's overly freighted with symbolism and meaning.
Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times
Argentinian writer/ director Fabian Bielinksy (Nine Queens) creates a character with an intriguing set of traits that inspire an equally intriguing plot.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
The moody ambience suggests noir writers David Goodis and Jim Thompson...
Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film
Tense and twisty, this is what thrillers should be about.
Beth Accomando, KPBS.org
I have to admit I was more than intrigued by a film featuring an epileptic taxidermist with a photographic memory who fancies that he can commit the perfect crime.
Kam Williams, Bean Soup Times
A psychological thriller about a wannabe gangster who ends up with overwhelming regret after becoming enveloped in a whirlwind of terror.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
Cold, shallow existentialism. Save your money for the upcoming DVD release of Army of Shadows.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
It's intriguing and absorbing, this thriller about a lonely taxidermist caught up in a shooting accident, a case of mistaken identity and a heist.
Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
This character-heavy crime thriller from Argentina occasionally gets off track, straying into territory that has little to do with the main story line. But they are interesting digressions, and it's sort of nice to have a movie that's so unpredictable.
Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune
A startling psychological drama with plenty of unexpected twists, a worthy follow-up [to] Fabian Bielinsky['s] riveting debut Nine Queens.
Liz Braun, Jam! Movies
A delight to look at, and full of both beautiful music and beautiful silences.
Angela Baldassarre, Sympatico.ca
With "The Aura," his final picture, the director adopts a moody atmosphere to convey an original heist thriller set in the mysterious Patagonian forests.
Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
It's less a deconstruction of the heist film than an ambitious contemplation of our fascination with the genre...
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
The movie is cause for both rejoicing and despair. The good news it's an absorbing, intelligent film. The bad is that there will be no more from the gifted [late director] Bielinsky.
Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star
It's tough to get behind a character who doesn't even seem to care about himself.
Marrit Ingman, Austin Chronicle
Visually, the film is almost perfect, with a weird, expressionistic sensibility considerably more sophisticated than the low-fi street shooting of Nine Queens, while the imaginative piano score trickles between pastoral harmony and primal discord.

Read all 19 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Arash X

After the dissapointing Nueve Reinas, Bielinsky makes a great film, Interesting & engaging with a bleak & overcast atmosphere
Luke B

El Aura is a wonderfully deep and thoughtful crime film. The bleached look make it a dark and dreary world, but one that doesn't exclude viewers. It's not Wham-Bam action, but when it does kick off the violence is more affective than the majority of crime dramas. Darin is a… More
El Aura is a wonderfully deep and thoughtful crime film. The bleached look make it a dark and dreary world, but one that doesn't exclude viewers. It's not Wham-Bam action, but when it does kick off the violence is more affective than the majority of crime dramas. Darin is a wonderful actor that doesn't feel the need to "sing for his supper". He lets you interpret his thoughts. The extremely silent moments, where he bonds with the dog simply with subtle glances, are great moments. As he plays a taxidermist, the relationship is laced with ironic warmth. The film has many Malick esque moments of quiet reflection, using the landscape and simple gestures to convey much more. Drags a bit in the 3rd quarter as it attempts to build a few too many relationships.
Drew S

The best part about The Aura is its tone. It is an entirely overcast movie, perpetually threatened by the possibility of rain (on which it never delivers). It seems an appropriate atmosphere for this grim, sad tale of a man who doesn't have much to live for but his heist… More
The best part about The Aura is its tone. It is an entirely overcast movie, perpetually threatened by the possibility of rain (on which it never delivers). It seems an appropriate atmosphere for this grim, sad tale of a man who doesn't have much to live for but his heist fantasies. That same tone, so meticulously crafted and presented, grows almost overbearing at times. The Aura is markedly one-note in its presentation, but it doesn't suffer blatantly for it. It's just that seeing the same grey-green forests and forlorn faces over and over again grows exhausting by the time you've slogged through this two-hour journey. But for all its heaviness, I didn't really find The Aura hard to watch. Its plot is very simple, which is refreshing; an unadorned plot can do far more in almost any situation than something extremely complex. The Aura, with its bare bones plot and emphasis on tone and character, is quite like a one-man Heaven. It concerns an epileptic taxidermist who dreams about committing a heist and just so happens to stumble into one; in movie tradition, however, things rarely go as planned. The Aura is thematically complex. There's a lot of allegories and motifs buried in the film, such as the treatment of women, the wolf, fantasy versus reality, and the illusion of control. To find such literate writing in a thriller movie is very refreshing. Expounding on these themes is Ricardo Darin, giving a strong performance as the taxidermist. It's a difficult role to pull off given the character's (and movie's) lack of expression, but Darin keeps things interesting. A wistful footnote to end Fabian Bielinsky's career, The Aura is something vital and intelligent. While it may bore some people, there's merit to be found in what it does for its genre and performers.
Pierluigi P

Second and sadly last film by Fabián Bielinsky. a compelling thriller with a great performance by Ricardo Darín, as an epileptic and diffident taxidermist with a strange urge for elaborated heists.
Ross C

At the EIFF 2006 I was expecting more from Fabian's second (and last) movie following his fantastic debut with "Nine Queens". This movie was very average, slow, boring and lacking humour.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]In "The Aura," the taxidermist(Ricardo Darin) is an epileptic who is great with details and has a photographic memory.(I can only imagine how that combination might have made life nightmarish for him growing up.) While on line at banks, he likes to tell… More
[font=Century Gothic]In "The Aura," the taxidermist(Ricardo Darin) is an epileptic who is great with details and has a photographic memory.(I can only imagine how that combination might have made life nightmarish for him growing up.) While on line at banks, he likes to tell his colleague, Sontag(Alejandro Awada), how they could be robbed but never acts on his plans. Sontag has a friend cancel on a hunting trip, so he invites the other man along. Due to a closing casino, there is no room at the inn, so they rent a cabin at a remote location, managed by Diana(Dolores Fonzi), while her much older husband is out hunting...[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]...at that point in the movie, I was sure it would go in a certain direction, as had other movies of a similar genre. I was wrong. "The Aura" is an unpredictable movie that defies expectation while haunting the viewer after it is over. The taxidermist has the perfect set of skills for his profession,(I thought he might also make a great accountant. Oh well...) but cannot see beneath the skin to understand human beings.(He is especially surprised at Sontag's returning to his wife's bedside.) In the end, he has no experience with life, just death. [/font]
William G

Compelling drama from a director taken too soon.
matt s

Beautiful looking yet slow film about an epileptic man who, after killing the owner of an outhouse, puts himself in that guy's situations. I like this movie, but I don't know if the conclusion fits. After all that time watching this man go through what he went through, it… More
Beautiful looking yet slow film about an epileptic man who, after killing the owner of an outhouse, puts himself in that guy's situations. I like this movie, but I don't know if the conclusion fits. After all that time watching this man go through what he went through, it kinda ends without a big, note or any type of note. But I liked the pacing and feel of this movie.
John M

From the director of "Nueve Reinas", here it comes a different movie. Slow pace movie but still very good. Clever plot, excellent direction, perfect script, superb acting, and wonderful cinematography with Argentina's landscapes.
Stefan P

Compared with a David Lynch-movie this one has about half as good atmosphere which is very good. Many scenes includes long moments of silence which makes it pleasant, poetic and completely different from the ordinary Hollowoord-flick where everything are spelled out in big letters.… More
Compared with a David Lynch-movie this one has about half as good atmosphere which is very good. Many scenes includes long moments of silence which makes it pleasant, poetic and completely different from the ordinary Hollowoord-flick where everything are spelled out in big letters. Further on - great acting, intriguing story and wonderful ending. Now I made a promise that I should watch more movies from Fabián Bielinsky.
Janice :

I had high standards for this film, and honestly I was extremely deceived! It's okay, but pointless. There are some nice scenes in the movie where everything seems so calm and poetic, but otherwise I felt like I was wasting precious hours of my existence.