Customer Reviews

Burnt Money [VHS]

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

BURNT MONEY is another film from Argentina that places that country in the forefront of exemplary film making. After viewing this compelling movie of a retelling of a bank heist that occurred in Buenos Aires in 1965 one wonders why Hollywood has so much difficulty presenting credible and sensual male/male relationships. The chief characters in this story are two lovers (played to perfection by Leonardo Sbaraglia as 'Nene' and Eduardo Noriega II as 'Angel') who, known as The Twins, are hired to assist in a heist. This event occurs at the very beginning of this two hour film, leaving the rest of the movie to explore the intricate relationship between the lovers as they elude the law in their flight to Uruguay. The physical passion between thes two men is palable, erotic, and as profound as any love story to hit the screen. When the stress of the life of hiding drives Angel to focus on the 'voices' in his head, his physical withdrawal sends Nene outside the relationship to satisfy his sexual needs. One of these encounters is with a woman he meets in a bar and results in a confessional talk about his gayness and ultimately ends up in one of the most sensuously graphic sexual scenes since "Last Tango In Paris". Yes, in this story that is focused on a gay relationship, the sexual encounters filmed are heterosexual ones and very well filmed at that. The physical relationship between Nene and Angel is far less graphic and yet far more sensual for being so. Would that Hollywood could make gay characters so wholly three dimensional as Director Marcelo Pineyro does! The supporting cast includes more beautiful people than Sbaraglia and Noriega: Leticia Bredice and Dolores Fonzi play the sexy female roles and there is a cameo by cabaret singer Adriana Varela whose luminously sexual singing focuses the sensuality of this story completely. Well written, well photographed and well directed, BURNT MONEY starts on a high note and just gathers momentum right to the devastating climax. A superb film.

BURNT MONEY
[Plata Quemada]

(Spain/France/Uruguay - 2000)

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Theatrical soundtrack: Dolby Digital

Argentina, 1965: Following a botched robbery on an armored car, during which they stole money belonging to a corrupt police officer, two gay lovers - rebellious rich kid Nene (Leonardo Sbaraglia) and borderline schizophrenic Angel (Eduardo Noriega) - are forced to flee with their accomplices to Uruguay where they take refuge in a decaying apartment building. Continually denied sexual favors by Angel due to his worsening mental condition, Nene takes up with a sympathetic prostitute (Leticia Bredice), leading to jealousy, betrayal and tragedy...

Based on a non-fiction novel by Argentinian writer/critic Ricardo Piglia, and directed by Marcelo Pineyro (a former producer whose film career was kickstarted in 1985 by Luis Puenzo's acclaimed drama THE OFFICIAL STORY), BURNT MONEY is an unexpected masterpiece. Photographed with noirish intensity by Alfredo Mayo (HIGH HEELS) and underscored by an ironic soundtrack of lazy jazz and contemporary English/Spanish pop songs, the narrative is driven by powerful emotions (sexual and otherwise), and when the highly strung characters finally react against their unhappy circumstances, the resulting violence is bleak and uncompromising, and the sex scenes are equally graphic.

The sacred and profane are interlinked in various ways (one extraordinary sequence cross-cuts between an act of worship in a Uruguayan church and an unpleasant encounter between Nene and a frightened youth in a public toilet), and the sweaty atmosphere is broken only by an explosive climax where the main protagonists are forced to take responsibility for their actions. Former TV actor Pablo Echarri ("Chiquititas", "El Signo", etc.) plays a younger, headstrong member of the outlaw gang, blinded by youthful arrogance to the danger in which they have all become enmeshed, while Bredice (NINE QUEENS) plays one of the few significant female characters in this otherwise all-male scenario, a brittle creature unable to prevent herself falling in love with the wrong guy, with appalling consequences for everyone.

More than anything else, however, BURNT MONEY is a love story, played to perfection by two of the finest young actors of their generation. Spanish heartthrob Eduardo Noriega forged his career in popular mainstream entries such as THESIS, OPEN YOUR EYES and THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE, while Leonardo Sbaragalia made a name for himself in his native Argentina, where he worked with Pineyro on a number of lesser-known productions (TANGO FEROZ: LA LEYENDA DE TANGUITO, CABALLOS SALVAJES). Casting these two beautiful, experienced young men as lovers in a violent true-crime drama could not have been more fortuitous: Their devotions are rarely consummated on-screen (all of the aforementioned sex scenes are heterosexual), except for a chaste kiss at the end of the film, and an earlier, erotically-charged sequence in which Nene tends to a wound on Angel's shoulder and initiates a sexual advance, only to be rebuffed because of Angel's mental condition. And yet, Noriega and Sbaraglia are ultra-convincing as the macho thugs who would literally die for one another, and they invest every gesture, every inflection, with genuine romantic chemistry. These guys simply burn up the screen! Look out for the devastating sequence in which Nene 'confesses' to Bredice about his relationship with Angel, where he describes their mutual affection with heartbreaking emotional candor.

But when all's said and done, these characters are also drug-takers and ruthless killers, and Pineyro refuses to soft-pedal their capacity for evil, which may divide some viewers unable to reconcile such a cruel dichotomy. However, the climactic sequence simply reinforces Pineyro's true objectives: For all its dramatic fireworks and sexual tension, BURNT MONEY is a story of undying love, as touching and beautiful as any this reviewer has ever seen. They may be thieves and murderers, but when Nene looks into Angel's eyes, you know instinctively that their love transcends life and death, and is destined to last an eternity.

Not just a great gay film, BURNT MONEY is also a terrific love story, a heartstopping thriller, and an outstanding example of the recent upsurge in popular Spanish entertainment. Highly recommended!

This film, original title "Plata Quemada", totally is a complete deal.
The gay magazine of Espana, Zero magazine, calls this movie one of the most important films of the past 10 years. It represents perhaps the next film in gay movies where "gayness" is not the end-all-be-all focus of the film (as is the case in gay movies made by Hollywood)

A wonderfully acted film with plenty of action and a gripping story. Plata Quemada is the story of the 2 principal bank robbers, Nene and Angel, one from Argentina, the other from Spain. They are lovers. But this is not a "gay film" in that the gayness is not the focus of the story. But it is central to understanding the emotional impact that this film carries. Think "Bonnie and Clyde" but Bonnie is a beautiful sexy muscular latin man.

Based on true events that took place in Argentina and Uruguay in 1965, it is about a bank robbery gone wrong. But it is also about the 4 main characters and how they relate to each other.

Unlike american films where american actors (gay and straight) seem so wooden and artificial when they play gay characters (i.e. Interview with a vampire Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt) due to their own fear of seeming "too genuinely gay", Spain has a wonderful history of straight actors who make you believe the passion and love between two men. Law of Desire with the very young Antonio Banderas as un chico obsessed with his boyfriend was one. This is another.

Leonardo Sbraglia and one of Spain's major hunks, (el chulo) Eduardo Noriega, draw you into the tortured lives of 2 men who are weird, unbalanced and.... love each other without limits. The end of the movie had me longing for a love that was as strong as what these men show on screen.

If you like a great story with great emotional content, lots of action, beautiful beautiful men both latin (Pablo Echarri y Leonardo Sbraglia) and spanish (Noriega) and a message that will get to you straight gay or whatever, get this movie.

I caught the review of this film in a local street rag. And I am really glad I did. This is one of the best homosexual theme movies out on film, and the two main guys have done a jam-up job of acting.

There is no sex scene's between the two men, but there is a sense of very much love for each other and their kisses are real and not strained. Kudos for these two great actors. The picture has won many awards! Leonardo Sbaraglia, (Nene) , Wild Tango,
Wild Horses, and Eduardo Noreiga (ll) ( Angel) , The Devil's Backbone, Abre Los ojos, Thesis. Are known as 'the twins' , but they are not brothers, they are lover's and they are for hire robbers. The way they look at each other and the way they care for each other is very moving.

The story is about a heist that goes wrong in Buenos Aires and policemen are shot and the newspapers know who did the job. The gang has to skip to Uruguay in hopes they can stay there until the heat is off of them. But things do not go their way, and they have to move again....

I cannot say enough about the two main characters, they were excellent in their portrayal of The Twins, always together and always looking out for each other.
Also, Pablo Echarre as the driver did an excellent job. But, the tone of the movie is in the court of Nene and Angel. And their love for each other. One of the best male to male flicks to come out since Urbania. To bad Hollywood cannot turn them out!!

Burnt Money ,(Plata Quemada) will not be for all... but if you want to see some great acting and a caring no bars held male relationship, then you must run to see it. Out on DVD Oct 1, 2002 . This is the theatrical version not the dvd! I give this a 5/5 !

ciao yaaah69

Plata Quemada, i.e. Burnt Money, is one of the 10 best films of the new millenium. The other reviewers are absolutely right, Hollywood has nothing on Argentina. Many of Argentina's films surpass Hollywood films far and wide. Plata Quemada has become my absolute favorite film. I have seen this film probably 50 times since I first bought it (and I'm not kidding!) and that is not something I usually do. All of the main characters, "Nene, Cuervo, and Angel" are imbedded in my memory banks. In fact, after watching this film so many times, I decided to watch other films by the main actors, Lenoardo Sbaraglia (Nene), Eduardo Noriega II (Angel), and Pablo Echarri (Cuervo), and I pleasantly found that their other films are quite good as well. These men are very good, talented actors, not just pretty faces, in virtually all of their films. The director Marcelo Pinyero is also quite good. I've seen a few of his films. Plata Quemada is the icing on the cake though for the actors and the director. This will be a diamond in the story of their careers for the rest of their lives. They should be very proud. They definitely won me. I am a loyal fan for life!!

It's too bad that a special interest distribution company is hawking this movie, because even though the protagonist couple of the film are both men, the passionate love story that ensues is powerful enough to transcend its "gay" subplot. This is a movie that anyone who likes a romantic story about a love that manages to survive in the face of unbelievable adversity will enjoy. Based on an event that actually happened in Buenos Aires in 1965, a botched robbery and subsequent manhunt that lasted two months, it is reminiscent of the Charles Starkweather/Carol Fugate killing spree that happened in the USA in the late 50s/early 60s and paralyzed three states. The film starts with the meeting of the two hit men, in a public restroom. Within the first five minutes we know that Angel "hears voices" and that Nene falls madly in love with and determined to protect him. When Angel gets injured in the robbery and they hightail it out of Argentina, his voices warn him against losing his "sacred bodily fluids" and the subsequent abjection drives the hapless Nene out into the sordid night life, the flotsom and jetsom of Montevideo, for companionship. As the police make their inexorable way to the hiding robbers, it all builds to a heroic, passionate climax that's one of the most deliriously romantic resolutions in recent or, in fact, distant memory. This is all beside the fact that the three leads, Pablo Echarri, Leonardo Sbaraglia and Eduardo Noriega, are three of the most refreshingly handsome and talented young actors you'll probably see from any country. I can't recommend it highly enough.

I didn't know this film existed until I recorded it as it played post-midnight(and while I was sleeping) on a semi-alternative television station. This semi-artistic, semi-episodic film deals with a violent armoured car robbery that occurred in Argentina in the mid-60s. The protagonists, a wheelman, the mastermind behind the robbery, and two gays, Angel and Nene, must flee to Uruguay until the post-robbery "heat" cools down. Yet the "heat" doesn't cool down, and three of the four gradually emerge from their hiding place, Nene and Angel to frequent a surrealistic amusement park itself frequented by prostitutes of both sexes. Nene begins a relationship of sorts with a sympathetic female streetwalker, aggravating Angel (who is borderline psychotic)even further off the edge. The film, quite violent in parts, culminates in Angel, Nene and the wheelman's being trapped by police in an intense, fatal shootout. This film has interesting dialogue, good characterizations, and attentive period detail (the cars, at least). That written, now that I've discovered this movie via rapidly obsolescent VCR, I'm going to keep it.

I've been a fan of Eduardo Noriega and Leonardo Sbaraglia since I saw Burnt Money in April 2003. I'd never paid much attention to movies in Spanish before except for those that earned Oscars as best foreign movies. Burnt Money changed my perception about Hispanic movies. Leonardo Sbaraglia (Nene) was wonderfully successful in coveying his loving feelings toward Eduardo Noriega (Angel) in the movie. His performance was so unique and so intense compared to those of other actors who had ever played gay characters in Hollywood. This is a wonderfully new experience for me.

Repeat after me -- this is NOT 'just' a 'gay' film! Along with "Nine Queens," another recent Agentinian film, this film ranks as one of the best this year. The script, the camera work, the pacing -- everything is top quality. I won't repeat the plot -- the other reviews posted here describe it very well -- but suffice to say that it is that rare heist film that combines the expected action with a gripping character study and romance, all against a backdrop of endemic police and government corruption. Eduardo Noriega, as Angel (who hears voices and suffers terrible guilt over his sexuality), and Leonardo Sbaraglia, playing Nene and described by one critic as similar to a young Richard Gere only more overtly sexual, are mesmerizing, accomplished actors; they create one of the most passionate and convincing "troubled" relationships -- gay or straight -- you are likely to see on film. They were much more believable to me than saintly Jennifer Connelly standing by poor deluded Russell Crowe (no matter what) in the overrated "A Beautiful Mind."

The director does a superb job of holding the film together, keeping the audience engaged each step of the way -- even though you think you know (as a matter of history) what will happen, the film keeps surprising you, right up to the end. As soon as you think you have figured it out, it takes an unexpected turn.

It is too bad that it will be perceived as a 'gay film' just because the two leads are men who are in love with each other. The film transcends the genre as surely as the movie "Priest" did several years ago. In fact, the only real sex scenes in the film are between men and women (NOT between the two male leads, sorry Noriega fans!). I do not know why the film maker did not include such a scene between the leads, at least before Angel's voices tell him to stop -- perhaps Argentina is not ready and/or the actors were unwilling -- nonetheless, the love and tenderness captured between the two is so palpable, so intense, I did not consciously realize how coy the film was at depicting their relationship until after the film was over.

Also interesting is the depiction of women in the film; despite the fact that the two main woman characters are also the only two actually shown to make a real intimate physical connection with two of the male characters, they are ultimately depicted as traitorous to our antiheroes and not to be trusted; in the end, the men have only each other. The end is sublimely romantic, and I swear owes a debt to "Bonnie and Clyde" and Michaelangelo.

I must admit I have a soft spot for foreign film - it's almost a magical experience for me to enjoy how other cultures deal with human issues, and often in a more honest way than the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Also, relying on subtitles to understand what is going on has the most amazing effect - you are forced to stare at the screen for the whole film and therefore become more engrossed in the story and characters. So when a friend sent me a copy of Burnt Money as a present I was estatic, and after viewing the movie, that elation has stayed with me.

What amazes me about most foreign films is the honesty they portray when dealing with human emotion. There is no watering-down to appeal to the lowest common denominator, but a genuine effort to get inside to our most basic thoughts and emotions.

Burnt money is no exception. The film essentially deals with a relationship between 2 men. Though unlike any film I've seen before, that relationship is detailed under the umbrella of the violent, criminal underground world. The usual themes of gay relationships are on display here, but we get to see them from a totally different perspective. This film helps to challenge our thinking and our ideals about relationships, love and change. Powerful stuff.

The DVD itself is quite handsomely packaged. The quality of the transfer is average - no benchmark DVD here but nonetheless better than what you would see on VHS. No special features at all, except for the the original trailer and four trailers for other DVD releases.

If you love being challenged, and rewarded for your patience, see Burnt Money - you won't regret it.