Back in January 1972, and during the dictatorship of General Lanusse, a group of revolutionary activists occupied the Banco Nacional de Desarrollo (BANADE) and expropriated some 450 million pesos (US$10 million today) for their revolutionary cause, not for personal gain.
A decisive factor in achieving such a feat was the help from bank employees and activists Oscar Serrano and Ángel Abus, who had been preparing the strike for some two years.
When the right time came, the finances of the dictatorship stored in the BANADE were taken away for good. It was the biggest bank robbery in the history of Argentina.
Now, 40 years later, Oscar Serrano and Ángel Abus recreate the events in the shape of a chronicle (a documentary) and a “making of” a possible fiction film recreating the heist. Directed, written and edited by Omar Neri, Fernando Krichmar, and Mónica Simoncini, Seré millones features archive footage, photographs, newsreels, and interviews (on the documentary part), as well as rehearsals, screen tests, discussions and script readings (on the making of the fiction film).
As soon as you start watching it, the first thing that comes to mind is that the history behind the robbery, its multiple elements and amazing facets are enormously appealing and thought-provoking. It’s not for nothing that they call it the biggest bank robbery in Argentine history. But when it comes to the assets in Seré millones (a story addressing history), there’s not much to write home about.
It’s just that there are so many problems in each area of filmmaking that the promise of a different movie experience soon gives way to plain boredom.
Made with the best intentions and with a commendable ideological point of view, Seré millones has few ideas as regards mise en scene, and not very good ones. Having actors talk to the mirror about how the film is deeply affecting them is not exactly subtle or enlightening. It feels contrived.
The same lack of spontaneity is found in the dialogues between the protagonists and the actors.
The cinematography is flat and the camerawork is dull, and they say nothing about the film’s content. For a conventional feature posing as an innovative one, or even for just a conventional one, it lacks a firm director’s hand, a smart screenplay, and a compelling sense of narrative and visual design.
As for the documentary part, there’s nothing new under the sun. One thing is for sure: you’ll get to know quite a few facts about a most notable event. And that’s that.
