Nine Queens: Corruption in Argentinean Society

Set in Buenos Aires, Argentina, “Nine Queens” is the tale of Juan, the good-hearted protagonist who joins forces with Marcos, a purportedly more experienced conman who steals shamelessly and swindles even those scammers who work alongside him. The team undergoes a series of ordeals, only to lose hundreds of thousands of pesos to a worthless check after selling valuable stamps to a powerful man with money to spare. In the end, however, it is revealed that the real trick is on Marcos, as, with Juan’s help, all the people he has betrayed in the past and throughout the course of the movie turn out to be working against Marcos in a seamless and successful plan to take the spoils for themselves. This film has a particularly national stamp in that the plot and the way in which Marcos’s and Juan’s characters contrast each other highlights the underlying element of a lack of trust; this lack of trust, in turn, reflects an Argentinean society with a hidden corruption. Elements such as contrasting characterization and economic troubles convey this sense of insecurity.

In a crucial scene of the film, Marcos attempts to cash a check for a large windfall only to find that there is a run on the bank. Such a display of chaos is unfamiliar to an American audience and would be unrealistic in a Hollywood film set in America, a country that has not experienced such a sign of instability in many decades. However, the scene is reasonable enough to make the movie still appear realistic, which is a sign that marks the film as Argentina’s own. Such instability is portrayed as being relatively normal there, which shows a film audience and larger society in the nation that is used to a lack of trust in the financial system.

The lack of trust is also shown in the juxtaposition of the characters of Marcos and Juan. Marcos’s shameless conning shows that he represents the corruption that some people perceive to be running rampant in Argentinean society. Juan’s reluctance to steal from the misfortunate shows that he represents the caring common man. When they first meet and Marcos offers Juan a partnership for the day, the view rotates around them, showing close-ups of both faces. The way in which the view is framed is reminiscent of scenes in which two enemies meet and prepare for battle. This use of the framing alerts viewers that the two will be pitted against each other despite their apparent unity, just as the common man is pitted against the corrupted in an apparently united country. Throughout the film, Juan periodically questions Marcos’s intentions and acts worried that Marcos will trick him and take all the money for himself. This represents the common man’s lack of trust in society as corruption looms. The two also represent a clash between tradition and modern decline. Juan is portrayed as a family man concerned for his father, while Marcos represents the erosion of family values, as he has stolen inheritance money from his siblings.

The Argentinean social trend of a lack of trust in society is evident through the scam genre of the film itself, the characterization, and the economic background of the country. A general unease is portrayed as being commonplace in the country. The movie ends on a positive note, however, as the victims take matters into their own hands and deal justice to the corrupt. It remains to be seen, however, whether this is just an appeal to the audience, satisfying their wish for power to be given to the common man, or if it is reasonable to expect justice to be brought to the corrupt society.