Even as I write this I feel guilty for not enjoying Elefante Blanco more than I did. This Argentinian film centres on the slums of Buenos Aires where two priests, Father Julián (Ricardo Darín) and Father Nicolás (Jérémie Renier) are attempting to navigate the drug wars and poverty of the worst neighbourhood in the city. The title of the film comes from the name of the crumbling building that was supposed to be a hospital but remains an unfinished home to the homeless, an ever present feature of the film. The problem with Elefante Blanco is not that there aren't interesting characters or plots, the problem is that they all churn along while the audience is left wondering what the significance of each really is. A film like this has a lot to say, but Elefante Blanco doesn't seem to say anything. Nicolás starts a tabooed relationship with a social worker (Martina Gusman), for example, but while we feel that it must indeed be taboo, the film does nothing to dramatize or highlight this, leaving the viewers with the sensation that their romance is unneeded filler in an already heavy handed film. And the sex scene could have been plucked from virtually any other movie. Both Julián and Nicolás care deeply for the people of this neighbourhood but they take different approaches. Nicolás wants to get involved, perhaps because he still feels the trauma of a massacre he witnessed in the Amazonian jungles in one of the opening scenes of the film. Meanwhile, Julián takes a more peaceful approach, and certainly there are many comparisons drawn between him and the Marxist activist and priest Father Carlos Mujica who was shot in 1974 and who is also a mainstay of the film. Both priests have their faith tested by the violence and helplessness of their environment, but again the depiction of these trials doesn't seem to do justice to what the characters must certainly be feeling. Add in a brain tumor for Father Julián and you have a film full of plot lines that are loaded with potential, potential that doesn't go anywhere significant. There is no doubt that this is a beautifully shot and scored film filled with great performances. Director Pablo Trapero is evidently passionate for his characters, the church and Buenos Aires and as such this is a film certainly worth seeing. It is however, one that leaves one with more questions than answers.
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