Azor (2021, Andreas Fontana) (Patreon)

44/100

Bailed on this during my annual ND/NF sampling, because it didn't strike me as exceptional (or even particularly interesting) at any point during its initial 34 minutes. As I was warned—by its partisans—would likely be the case, nothing in the remainder of the film altered that impression. From start to finish, Fontana truly underscores the banality of Arendt-style evil, sending Rongione's Swiss banker on a descent (complete with chaffeur named Dante! come on, man) into junta-ruled Argentina, over the course of which there's never any indication whatsoever that he won't play ball, nor any mystery whatsoever regarding the fate of his absent business partner. Azor establishes its politely menacing groove at the outset and just rides it all the way to the end, observing the bloodless selling of its protagonist's soul. While there's obviously a big difference between passive sanction and active greed—Yvan's determined to avoid winding up in a hole, not busily digging one for himself—the film's series of meetings and conversations, along with its general tone, reminded me strongly of The Counselor, minus McCarthy's gift for eccentric dialogue and Scott's ability to generate tension from images alone. That's especially true of Azor's most compelling yet frustrating scene: a verbal "duel" between Yvan and the Monsignor. There's certainly no missing the latter's implicit threats, but the actual exchange consists entirely of debate regarding whether or not it's prudent to speculate in the currency market w/r/t the Ugandan shilling, which zzzzzzz. Rongione's quite good (in a role very different from his work for the Dardennes), and in theory I get what would be appealing about Fontana's low-key approach here, but nonstop insinuation needs to be more robust, either formally or dramatically, than this.