The Aura (aka El Aura/IFC/2005)

 

Picture: C     Sound: B-     Extras: C     Film: C+

 

 

Fabian Bielinsky really tries to do something different in his psychological thriller The Aura (aka El Aura/2005) than many have tried lately.  He has a taxidermist named Esteban Espinoza (Ricardo Darin) who is deconstructing the dead as if they were living and keeps thinking of the perfect theft crime.  Already, the evasion of death is prominent immediately as he takes an animal skeleton and adds its skin and eyes back slowly.  When a bizarre hunting accident occurs, he gets a chance to try out one of his long-considered ideas.

 

To add to this, he has problems with blackouts, though Bielinsky and cinematographer Checco Varese, A.M.C., treat all of the thoughts and events with an almost supernatural quality in the way they edit and shoot the scenes.  Like Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, a sense of the psychic can also be considered implied to some extent, but despite the consistent ambition of the filmmakers, the final result never adds up to more than some interesting ideas that never gel.

 

Sadly, this was the last of three films for Bielinsky, who passed away from a heart attack in June of 2006.  His film Nine Queens (2000) was a larger hit internationally, so he did make his mark before passing.  Based on this film, who knows how far he might have gone.  Knowing that haunts this film all the more.

 

The letterboxed 2.35 X 1 image is soft, but does not have dulled or gutted colors to its advantage, but detail and depth suffer.  The Dolby Digital Spanish 5.1 has optional English subtitles and has a good use of ambience and surrounds, though they are not always loud or boomy.  Extras include the original theatrical trailer, a behind-the-scenes montage and making of featurette.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo