El Angel

In nineteen-seventies Buenos Aires a seventeen year old drifts from theft into a series of crimes that ends in murder. He has the face of an angel and takes nothing seriously. The film makes no attempt to explain the crimes: no trauma, no poverty, no rage. That is what is unsettling about it: the character has no reason, and the film invents none. Period pop music and colour keep the scenes almost cheerful. Luis Ortega directed. It follows the real crimes of Carlos Robledo Puch, one of the longest-serving prisoners in Argentina. Before watching: the film works to pass the killer's charm on to the viewer, and it does so knowingly. If you find that morally objectionable, the film will not argue with you.