Money Exchange
(Cambio, cambio)
Lautaro García Candela | Drama, Thriller, Fiction
2022 | 90 minutes | Argentina
Newsreel footage about Argentina’s spiraling inflation since 2019 sets the stage for this economic thriller where Pablo is forced to smuggle.
Synopsis
An extended sequence of newsreel footage about Argentina’s spiraling inflation since 2019 sets the stage for Pablo, who works on Peatonal Florida, Buenos Aires’ economic and tourist epicenter, trying to survive in a precarious and exhausting working world.
When he falls in love with Florencia, an architecture student who shows him the city in a different way, he gets involved in the illegal exchange business selling dollars on the black market to improve his standard of living. As an impending currency crisis looms, Pablo seizes the opportunity to strike a blow using the volatility of the dollar value to his advantage. Despite the risks of getting caught by his money-laundering boss, he comes up with an elaborate scheme that could earn them enough money to change his life.
Ultimately, director Lautaro García Candela suggests a utopian world where workers start to investigate (and understand) their context and can act upon it, becoming masters of their own destiny.
Reviews
“Proudly inscribed in a lineage of realistic and urban cinema that goes from Nine Queens to Mauro. A lively film made in a guerrilla way (taking the cameras out into the street without anyone noticing them), that breathes an unmistakable porteño air.” – Ezequiel Boetti, PÁGINA 12
“Among the attractions of the film we must highlight the script: without cracks or digressions. Precise, surprising, with doses of thriller and romantic comedy, it dialogues with the reality of its time and with several films that preceded it and showed the impact of the successive crises and economic ups and downs of our country on urban youth.” – JULIETA BILIK, ROLLING STONES
“Without losing sight of the humanity and the closeness of the protagonists to the common people, the endearing and at times frenetic Money Exchange is not tense because of the amount of money involved but because of the risks that arise when the inexperienced protagonists get involved in increasingly complex adventures.” – Diego Lerer, MICROPSIACINE
“[An] unsentimental portrait of modern-day precarious youth navigating shifting tides of capital, one that progresses to an inevitable but nevertheless affecting climax.” – David Robb, SLANT MAGAZINE
“Lautaro García Candela’s movie explores Argentines’ obsession with the US currency through the eyes of an illegal dollar seller.” – Facundo Iglesia, BUENOS AIRES HERALD
“Populated with believable supporting characters, and its street scenes often exude a cinema-vérité rawness... ” – David Robb, SLANT MAGAZINE
Citation
Main credits
García Candela, Lautaro (film director)
García Candela, Lautaro (screenwriter)
Segundo Álamos, Juan (film producer)
Quesada, Ignacio (actor)
Peralta, Camila (actor)
Other credits
Cinematography, Joaquín Neira; editing, Lautaro García Candela, Ramiro Sonzini; music, Dante de Luca.
Citation
Cataloging
Pragda subjects
Criminal Justice
Culture + Identity
Economics + Social Class Issues
Labor Studies
Latin American Studies
Sociology
South America
Youth
Keywords
Clips
Festivals
Mar del Plata International Film Festival - Best Male Performance, Honorable mention; Torino Film Festival; Jeonju Int'l Film Festival; Black Canvas Film Festival, Mexico; Cinemancia Film Festival
DIRECTOR: Lautaro García Candela
NATIONALITY: Argentina
YEAR: 2022
GENRE: Drama, Thriller, Fiction
LANGUAGE: Spanish
COLOR / B&W: Color
GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School, College, Adult
SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE
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