The Aura, Bielinsky's second and final feature film, is vastly different in pace and tone from his first, Nine Queens. It follows an epileptic taxidermist who fantasizes about the perfect bank robbery; during a hunting trip, he gets an opportunity to make his dreams come true. The first third and last third of this movie are absolutely blissful to watch. The tension is palpable; an ominous mysteriousness pervades every frame. The sound design was particularly evocative and helpful in achieving this air of unease. The cinematography is brilliant in its composition and its concept and equally brilliant in its execution. It really took advantage of all the locale had to offer; my favorite shot of the entire movie was one where the camera was pointed up at tall, darkened trees swaying in front of a white sky. The editing was exceptionally fluid, and used the beautiful music to its fullest. I loved the scene near the beginning where Ricardo Darín decides to go on the hunting trip; it fades between him in the same sitting position across four or five different locales. Which brings me to Darín's acting. It is an incredible, indelible performance, just like the one he gave in Nine Queens. He does a complete reversal from his previous role, however, from a fast-talking, desperate con man to a reserved, brooding thinker. The dialogue is purposeful and precise with a natural delivery that never seems forced. The script is great as well; the side plots were important parallels and never felt superfluous.
The middle third of the movie sagged ... a lot. It was especially disappointing because the first third had given me such high hopes. But the middle was too slow and tried to build tension where there was none. I think this movie would be near-perfect and would deserve a 4.9 rating if it had been 15 minutes shorter. Other than that, though, what an amazing movie. And highly highly recommended as long as you know what you're getting into; it's a character study first and a heist movie second.IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0420509/