''Nueve Reinas'' () is a 2000 Argentinian
crime film
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
written and directed by
Fabián Bielinsky
Fabián Bielinsky (3 February 1959 – 29 June 2006) was an Argentine film director.
Career
Fabián Bielinsky was born in Buenos Aires on February 3, 1959. Bielinsky started to make films early in life, while still a high school student in the ...
. It stars
Ricardo Darín
Ricardo Alberto Darín (born 16 January 1957) is an Argentine actor, film director and film producer, he is considered one of the best and most prolific actors of Argentine cinema.
Considered one of the greatest and most acclaimed movie stars ...
,
Gastón Pauls
Gastón Pauls (born January 17, 1972) is an Argentine actor, TV host and producer.
Biography
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Pauls comes from a family of artists. His mother was a painter, his father a film producer, and his paternal grandp ...
, and
Leticia Brédice
Leticia Marcela Brédice (born July 26, 1975) is an Argentine actress and singer.
Career
Brédice won Best New Actress Award from the Argentine Film Critics Association in 1993 for ''Anni Ribelli''. In 1997, she has also won Best Supporting Act ...
. In the film,
con artists
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have de ...
Marcos (Darín) and Juan (Pauls) unexpectedly team up to sell counterfeit rare stamps to a wealthy foreign collector.
''Nueve Reinas'' was theatrically released in Argentina on August 31, 2000, by
Buena Vista International
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It ha ...
. The film received praise for its screenplay, Bielinsky's direction, acting performances, and its tone; it is considered an
Argentine film classic. ''Nueve Reinas'' was a commercial success, grossing $12.4 million worldwide.
In 2022, it was selected as the
10th greatest film of Argentine cinema in a poll organized in 2022 by the specialized magazines ''La vida útil'', ''Taipei'' and ''La tierra quema'', which was presented at the
Mar del Plata International Film Festival
The Mar del Plata International Film Festival ( es, Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar del Plata) is an international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature fest ...
. Also in 2022, the film was included in Spanish magazine ''
Fotogramas
''Fotogramas'' is Spanish digital and print film magazine which has been in circulation since 1946. It is one of the early film magazines in Spain.
History
Founded in Barcelona, it was first published on 15 November 1946 by Antonio Nadal-Rodó a ...
''s list of the 20 best Argentine films of all time.
Plot
In the early hours,
con artist
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...
Juan successfully
scams
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...
a cashier at a
convenience store
A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticket ...
, and is apprehended by the staff as he attempts the same scam on a different cashier. Fellow con artist Marcos feigns being a police officer and takes Juan away from the store. He requests Juan be his partner for the day, as he has recently disappeared. Although reluctant, Juan agrees because his father, also a con man, is in jail and requires $70,000 to bribe a judge at his hearing.
Later that day, the pair are presented an elaborate and lucrative
scheme A scheme is a systematic plan for the implementation of a certain idea.
Scheme or schemer may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''The Scheme'' (TV series), a BBC Scotland documentary series
* The Scheme (band), an English pop band
* ''The Schem ...
when Sandler, Marcos' elderly former associate, contacts him to help sell the "Nine Queens", a
counterfeit
To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...
sheet of rare
stamps
Stamp or Stamps or Stamping may refer to:
Official documents and related impressions
* Postage stamp, used to indicate prepayment of fees for public mail
* Ration stamp, indicating the right to rationed goods
* Revenue stamp, used on documents to ...
, to Vidal Gandolfo, a wealthy Spanish collector staying at the hotel where Marcos' sister, Valeria, works. Vidal will be deported from Argentina the following day due to corruption charges.
Lacking sufficient time to properly authenticate the stamps, Vidal hires an expert who confirms their validity. Vidal offers $450,000 for the stamps, with the exchange to take place that evening. Outside the hotel, the expert tells Marcos and Juan he knew the stamps were forged and demands payment. The fake stamps are then stolen out of Juan and Marcos' hands by thieves on a motorcycle who, unaware of their value, tosses them into a river.
To salvage the scheme, Marcos and Juan approach Sandler's widowed sister Berta; her deceased husband owned the real stamps. She agrees to sell for $250,000. Marcos says he can put up $200,000 and asks Juan to contribute the remaining $50,000, but Juan becomes suspicious of Marcos since it is the exact amount of money he so far has saved. After visiting his father in jail, he ultimately agrees to the arrangement and the pair buy the real stamps.
Marcos and Juan return to the hotel to meet Vidal. After finding out Valeria is Marcos' sister, Vidal says he will now only buy the stamps if he is able to have sex with Valeria. Valeria agrees, and says her price for doing so is for Marcos to confess to their younger brother, Federico, that Marcos cheated both Valeria and Federico out of their family inheritance. After he does so, Valeria spends the night with Vidal.
The next morning, Valeria informs them that Vidal paid for the stamps with a
certified check
A certified check (or certified cheque) is a form of check for which the bank verifies that sufficient funds exist in the account to cover the check, and so certifies, at the time the check is written. Those funds are then set aside in the bank's ...
. On their way to the bank, an attempted mugging is revealed to be an attempted con by Marcos to cheat Juan out of his share; Juan reveals he hid the check and will hand it to Marcos as they reach the bank. Upon arrival, they see a crowd outside and learn the bank has
failed due to fraud by the management, making the check worthless. Juan, looking disillusioned, walks away, while Marcos sticks around to see if he can find a way to still get the money.
Juan arrives at a warehouse, where he greets the motorcycle thieves, Vidal, Sandler, Berta, and Valeria, who is Juan's girlfriend – revealing that the real con was to swindle Marcos out of $200,000, as revenge for all the times he cheated his family and his partners.
Cast
*
Ricardo Darín
Ricardo Alberto Darín (born 16 January 1957) is an Argentine actor, film director and film producer, he is considered one of the best and most prolific actors of Argentine cinema.
Considered one of the greatest and most acclaimed movie stars ...
as Marcos
An experienced con artist who leads a scam against Vidal Gandolfo with Juan.
*
Gastón Pauls
Gastón Pauls (born January 17, 1972) is an Argentine actor, TV host and producer.
Biography
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Pauls comes from a family of artists. His mother was a painter, his father a film producer, and his paternal grandp ...
as Juan
A con artist who unexpectedly partners with Marcos.
*
Leticia Brédice
Leticia Marcela Brédice (born July 26, 1975) is an Argentine actress and singer.
Career
Brédice won Best New Actress Award from the Argentine Film Critics Association in 1993 for ''Anni Ribelli''. In 1997, she has also won Best Supporting Act ...
as Valeria
Marcos and Federico's sister and a hotel employee who is embroiled in a legal battle against Marcos for rights to their family inheritance.
The cast is rounded out with
Ignasi Abadal as Vidal Gandolfo, a rich, corrupt Spanish stamp collector.
Tomás Fonzi
Tomás Gonzalo Fonzi (born 24 August 1981) is an Argentine actor.
Biography
He grew up in Adrogué, Partido de Almirante Brown, Buenos Aires. He studied acting with Raúl Serrano from 1997 to 1999.
Career
He started acting in the youth soap o ...
portrays Federico, Marcos and Valeria's younger brother.
Oscar Núñez
Oscar Núñez (1929 – 9 February 2012) was an Argentine actor known for his work in film and theatre. Some of his best known film credits included ''Nine Queens'' in 2000, '' Good Life Delivery'' in 2004, and ''Un novio para mi mujer'' in 2 ...
and Celia Juárez portray Sandler and Mrs. Sandler, respectively, while Elsa Berenguer appears as Berta, Sandler's sister. Antonio Ugo, Jorge Noya,
Alejandro Awada
Alejandro Awada (; December 7, 1961) is an Argentine character actor of Syrian and Lebanese descent. He has appeared in a great number of television series, programmes and onstage.
Personal life
Awada was born on 3 December 1961 in Villa Bal ...
, Ricardo Díaz Mourelle, and Roberto Rey portray D'Agostino, Anibal, Washington, and Texan, and Ramiro, all local conmen who have worked with Marcos. Leo Dyzen appears as the stamp expert.
Background
The main character of the film is trying to remember the tune of a
Rita Pavone
Rita Pavone (; born August 23, 1945) is an Italian-Swiss ballad and rock singer and actress, who enjoyed success through the 1960s.
Singing career
She was born in Turin, Italy. In 1962 she participated in, and won, the first Festival degli Scon ...
song throughout the film. The song, "Il Ballo del Mattone", plays as the
end credits
Closing credits or end credits are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to, or at the very end of a ...
run.
Distribution
The film opened wide in Argentina on August 31, 2000. The film was screened at various film festivals, including: the
Telluride Film Festival
The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado during Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 49th edition took place on September 2 -6, 2022.
History
First held on 30 August 1974, th ...
, United States; the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
, Canada; the Medellín de Película,
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
; the Portland International Film Festival, United States; the
Cognac Festival du Film Policier The Festival du Film policier de Cognac ( en, Cognac Crime Film Festival) was an annual film festival that took place in Cognac, France from 1982 to 2007 (with no festival being held in 1991).Norwegian International Film Festival
The Norwegian International Film Festival ( no, Den norske filmfestivalen) is a film festival held annually in Haugesund, Norway. The festival goes back to 1973.
In 1985, the Amanda award was instituted. The Amanda is awarded every year at the fe ...
, Norway; and others.
In the United States it opened on a limited basis on April 19, 2002.
Remakes
The film's screenplay was adapted for the 2004 American film ''
Criminal
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...
''. It was also used as a basis for three
Indian film
The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...
s: the
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
film ''
Bluffmaster!
''Bluffmaster!'' is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language crime comedy film directed by Rohan Sippy and produced by Ramesh Sippy. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh, Priyanka Chopra, Sanjay Mishra, Boman Irani and Nana Patekar. It is a ...
'' (2005), the
Malayalam film
Malayalam cinema is an Indian cinema, Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ...
''
Gulumal'' (2009) and the
Telugu
Telugu may refer to:
* Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India
*Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India
* Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language
** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode
S ...
film ''
All the Best
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All al ...
'' (2012).
Critical reception
''Nine Queens'' garnered mostly positive reviews from film critics. On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds a 92% approval rating based on 95 reviews, with an average rating of 7.45/10. The site's consensus reads: "Deliciously twist-filled, ''Nine Queens'' is a clever and satisfying crime caper."
On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 80/100 based on 30 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
, in his review of ''Nine Queens'' for the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'', gave the film a score of three out of four stars, commending its screenplay and calling the film "an elegant and sly deadpan comedy." Michael Wilmington of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' awarded the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, and called it "One of the most clever, most enjoyable thrillers in years." ''
Orlando Sentinel
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company.
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...
'' film critic Roger Moore gave the film four stars out of five, writing, "the laughs are dark, the puzzle steadily more engrossing and the surprises, just like ''
Heist'', are doozies, up to the finale." Edward Guthmann of the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
'' also gave the film a positive review, writing: "Fast-paced and unerringly surprising, ''Nine Queens'' is nicely performed by a large cast
..David Mamet
David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...
plowed this con-the-con turf in ''Heist'', ''
House of Games
''House of Games'' is a 1987 American neo-noir heist thriller film directed by David Mamet, his directorial debut. He also wrote the screenplay, based on a story he co-wrote with Jonathan Katz. The film's cast includes Lindsay Crouse, Joe Mant ...
'' and ''
The Spanish Prisoner
''The Spanish Prisoner'' is a 1997 American neo-noir suspense film, written and directed by David Mamet and starring Campbell Scott, Steve Martin, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ben Gazzara, Felicity Huffman and Ricky Jay. It tells a story of corporate espion ...
'', but Bielinsky, in his directing debut, makes it seem sassy and reinvented."
Geoff Pevere
Geoff Pevere (born October 1957) is a Canadian lecturer, author, broadcaster, teacher, arts and media critic, currently the program director of the Rendezvous With Madness Film Festival in Toronto.John Semley, "Can we play with madness?: Toronto' ...
of ''
The Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'' wrote in his review of the film: "If ''Nine Queens'' draws you on a journey that eventually leads up a garden path toward your own suckerhood, it's all the more pleasurable for having done so with such slick expertise."
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
film critic Tom Dawson called the film "a welcome addition to the genre" and a "taut thriller a powerful allegorical resonance."
Awards
Wins
*
Argentine Film Critics Association Awards
The Argentine Film Critics Association ( es, Asociación de Cronistas Cinematográficos de la Argentina) is an organization of Argentine-based journalists and correspondents. The association presents the ''Silver Condor Awards'' (''Premios Cóndor ...
: Silver Condor; Best Actor, Ricardo Darín; Best Cinematography, Marcelo Camorino; Best Director, Fabián Bielinsky; Best Editing, Sergio Zottola; Best Film; Best Original Screenplay, Fabián Bielinsky; Best Supporting Actress, Elsa Berenguer; 2001.
*
Biarritz International Festival of Latin American Cinema
The Biarritz Festival Latin America (french: Festival Biarritz Amérique Latine) is an international film festival
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a singl ...
: Best Actor, (tie) Ricardo Darín and Gastón Pauls; for ''Nueve reinas''; 2001.
*
Bogotá Film Festival
The Bogotá Film Festival ( es, Festival de Cine de Bogotá) is an annual international film festival held in Bogotá, Colombia, inaugurated in 1984. It takes place in late October each year, with most films being in Spanish and very few in Engl ...
: Audience Award, Fabián Bielinsky; Golden Precolumbian Circle, Best Director, Fabián Bielinsky; 2001.
* Lima Latin American Film Festival: Elcine First Prize, Fabián Bielinsky; 2001.
*
Lleida Latin-American Film Festival
The Lleida Latin-American Film Festival ( ca, Mostra de Cinema Llatinoamericà de Lleida, or shortened to ca, Mostra de Lleida) is a cinema festival that takes place in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain awarding Latin American films. It is organised by the ...
: Audience Award, Fabián Bielinsky; Best Director, Fabián Bielinsky; 2001.
*
Oslo Films from the South Festival
Films from the South ( no, Film fra sør) is an international movie festival held annually in Oslo, Norway. Movies from Africa, Asia, and Latin-America are shown. The festival has its origin in the student film club of University of Oslo
The U ...
: Audience Award, Fabián Bielinsky; 2001.
*
Cognac Festival du Film Policier The Festival du Film policier de Cognac ( en, Cognac Crime Film Festival) was an annual film festival that took place in Cognac, France from 1982 to 2007 (with no festival being held in 1991).Fantasporto
Fantasporto, also known as Fantas, is an international film festival, annually organized since 1981 in Porto, Portugal. Giving screen space to Fantasy film, fantasy/Science fiction film, science fiction/Horror film, horror-oriented commercial fe ...
: Directors' Week Award, Best Screenplay, Fabián Bielinsky; 2002.
* Portland International Film Festival: Audience Award Best First Film, Fabián Bielinsky; 2002.
*
Sant Jordi Awards
The Sant Jordi Awards ( ca, Premis Sant Jordi, links=no; es, Premios Sant Jordi, links=no) are film prizes awarded annually by the Catalan branch of the Spanish public radio network Radio Nacional de España (RNE), Ràdio 4
Ràdio 4 is a Spani ...
: Best Foreign Actor, Ricardo Darín. Also for ''
La Fuga'' (2001) and ''
El Hijo de la Novia
''Son of the Bride'' ( es, El hijo de la novia) is a 2001 Argentine comedy drama film directed by Juan José Campanella and written by Campanella and Fernando Castets. The executive producers were Juan Vera and Juan Pablo Galli, and it was produ ...
'' (2001); 2002.
References
External links
*
*
*
''Nueve reinas''at the
cinenacional.com
Cinenacional.com is a web portal and web-based database about Argentine cinema. It is the most comprehensive site for information about the Argentine film industry, with a vast array of information on films, television programs, directors, actors, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nine Queens (Film)
2000 films
2000 crime drama films
2000s mystery films
Films shot in Buenos Aires
Films set in Buenos Aires
2000s heist films
Argentine independent films
2000s Spanish-language films
Films about con artists
Films distributed by Disney