A Common Crime

« Guilt and the return of the repressed are behind this elegant, disquieting and impressively acted political ghost story from Argentinian film-maker Francisco Márquez. »
The Guardian

Synopsis

One night in the pouring rain, Kevin, the adolescent son of Cecilia’s housekeeper, knocks on her door. A sociology lecturer and financially secure, Cecilia lives alone with her young child. She is too afraid to let Kevin in. The next day, his body is found in a river. The neighbourhood accuses the police of having hounded the teenager and social unrest rocks this impoverished part of town. Cecilia’s concept of reality is also increasingly shaken, her moods start to fluctuate and she begins hearing and seeing things. Is she losing her mind?.

In a ghostly, shimmering narrative, director Francisco Márquez articulates the injustices of Argentine society, which manifest themselves in the growing gap between rich and poor, employees and employers. His protagonist, sensitively played by Elisa Carricajo, is tormented by her guilty conscience. Like a ghost, her mounting consternation encroaches on every area of her life.

Festivals & Awards

  • 70th Berlinale: Panorama 2020
  • 44th São Paulo International Film Festival: International Perspective, 2020
  • 64th BFI London Film Festival : International Competition, 2020
  • 35th Mar del Plata International Film Festival: Argentine Competition, 2020
  • 21st Bergen International Film Festival: Official Selection, 2020
  • 42nd International Festival of New Latin American Cinema: Panorama, 2020

Director

Filmography

  • 2020 A Common Crime
  • 2019 Mother-Child (Documentary)
  • 2018 Athens
  • 2016 The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis
  • 2016 Pibe chorro (Documentary)
  • 2015 After Sarmiento (Documentary)
  • 2015 The Absent Ones

Cast

Elisa Carricajo (Cecilia), Mecha Martínez (Nebe), Eliot Otazo (Kevin), Ciro Coien Pardo (Juan), Cecilia Rainero (Claudia)

Crew

Screenwriter: Francisco Márquez, Tomás Downey
Cinematography: Federico Lastra
Editing: Lorena Moriconi
Sound: Abel Tortorelli
Music: Orlando Scarpa Neto
Producers: Luciana Piantanida, Andrea Testa, Francisco Márquez
Co-producers: Daniel Pech, Dan Wechsler
Production: Pensar con las manos (AR), Multiverso (AR), Bord Cadre films (CH)

Technical Data

Format: 1:1.33 / colour / 5.1
Runtime: 96′
Released: 2020
Language: Spanish
Subtitles: English, French

 

Original title: Un crimen común