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 The film by Argentine director Sebastian Borensztein, "La Odisea
de los Giles" ("the Odyssey of the Naive"), is a fictional
payback story for a nation still traumatized by the meltdown two
decades ago that plunged much of the population into poverty -
at a time of fresh economic turmoil.
In 2001, in the midst of a budget crisis, authorities imposed
restrictions on bank withdrawals, triggering massive protests
that swept the government from power. Soon afterwards, Argentina
defaulted on its debt and devalued the peso - destroying the
savings of many ordinary Argentines.
The film's title uses Argentine slang "giles," meaning naive or
foolish people, which is part of a common phrase - "somos todos
giles" or "we are all dupes."
The film follows a group of people from varied economic
backgrounds who invested their savings to purchase an abandoned
grain storage company in an attempt to weather the crisis.
But they are swindled by a lawyer and a bank manager and lose
everything.
"It is about this group of neighbors that decide to take the
bull by the horns because they know that no one will do anything
for them," Borensztein, 56, said in an interview with Reuters.
"A lot of people would have liked to say: 'I am going to recover
what is mine.'"
With a cast led by award-winning Argentine actor Ricardo Darin,
the film will participate in non-competitive sections at Toronto
and San Sebastian film festivals.
The movie is based on a novel by Argentine writer Eduardo
Sacheri "La Noche de la Usina," which in 2016 won the Alfaguara
Novel Prize - one of the most prestigious in the
Spanish-speaking world.
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Borensztein said the "giles" of the film's title refers to the kind
of honest Argentinians who trusted in economic institutions but
ended being betrayed time after time.
"If you ask me who are the 'giles' in Argentina, I would say
everybody except the dozen people who are holding the reins of
power," he said.
Argentina is going through another economic crisis, after the peso
currency and stock market collapsed this week after the left-wing
opposition romped to victory in primary elections on Sunday, ahead
of presidential polls in October.
The sense of turmoil is exacerbated by political polarization
between the center-left opposition and the ruling center-right
coalition of President Mauricio Macri, who has pushed through
unpopular austerity measures.
But Borensztein says his movie is not political but reflects a
general discomfort with institutions, not only in Argentina but in
other parts of the world.
"There is something related to the discontent of ordinary people, of
the world's 'giles', with the establishment," he said.
(Reporting by Lucila Sigal; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Lisa
Shumaker)
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