By James Mottram
In the 1980s, the nation of Argentina was in flux. The country’s dictator, General Leopoldo Galtieri, was gone after the disastrous conflict in The Falklands, and a tentative democracy was in place. It was in this climate of unease that Arquimedes Rafael Puccio – a seemingly mild mannered senior gent who actually had ties to the state’s security services – plied an unlikely criminal trade: kidnapping the wealthy, locking them in his basement, and then disposing of them once their ransom had been paid. Shockingly, this all went on while his family – including his various late teen and adult children – pottered “innocently” around the house, apparently unaware of what their patriarch was up to. This ignorance, however, was later at least partially uncovered as a ruse. Arquimedes and two of his sons – Alejandro and Daniel – were ultimately convicted of four kidnappings and three murders. Arquimedes’ wife, Epifania Calvo, daughters, Silvia and Adriana, and other son, Guillermo, however, were never convicted of any involvement in the crimes.
To say that the case has been a movie waiting to happen is an understatement, and the dark, sordid tale has finally been brought to the big screen by director, Pablo Trapero (White Elephant, Carancho, Lion’s Den). “The story is quite well known in Argentina,” Trapero tells FilmInk at The Venice Film Festival. “But when I started to work on it, there was not a book, nor any real substantial paperwork on it. We had some articles, and things like that, but we were always searching for more. Most of the information that we had was just on the criminal case: the dates of the crimes, the manner of the crimes, and so on. We had to do an investigation, and start our research right from the beginning. We talked with the people who lived near the Puccios’ house, and we talked with the judges and the lawyers, as well as the journalists that covered the story. We talked with the victims’ families. We got a lot of background from them. We also got access to the testimony of France, Alejandro’s friend, as well as pictures and letters. I couldn’t meet any surviving members of the family though. They didn’t want to. We tried hard, but they didn’t want it. It was a very long process. The first time that I thought about this movie was back in 2007.”
When asked his opinion on the brutal, nefarious activities of the Puccio clan, Trapero pauses thoughtfully. Does he believe that the kidnappings were motivated purely by money, or were there other reasons as well? “It’s a good question,” the director responds. “It’s hard to know. Arquimedes worked for the intelligence service, kidnapping people, during the dictatorship. He would abduct people for political reasons. In these cases, it looks like he did it for his home and his family, but they didn’t live in the manner that the money that they asked for could have allowed them to. So, we can guess that they had to cut the money with somebody else…perhaps someone in the shadows. I think that he was protecting people at the very end. I think that he had protection until the last day too. So I can’t really guarantee it, but I’m sure that he did give money to somebody else. He was covered for years. He was protected by somebody, and you have to pay for that protection.”
Arquimedes Rafael Puccio – who died in 2013 – remains an ominous and towering figure in recent Argentinean history. “This guy was really terrifying everyone,” Trapero says. “Even the way that he talked with his lawyer – with this sense of self-confidence, and a sense of always having things under his control – was frightening.” Playing the role with a profound sense of authority is an aged up Guillermo Francella (The Secret In Their Eyes), whose white air and quiet power give Puccio a princely, patriarchal air. “It was a really long process,” Trapero says of casting the actor in the role. “Before I finished the script, I asked Guillermo about it. He really wanted to do a character like this. It’s good to write a character when you have your actor in place. He was ready and happy to get involved with this very long process of researching and preproduction.” Guillermo Francella, however, was not the most obvious candidate for the role of Arquimedes Rafael Puccio. “He’s a huge, big comedian,” Trapero laughs. “He’s an actor, and he’s very well known, but he’s a more famous actor from comedy. This is his first character as a villain, and we really enjoyed that process with him. It was a big challenge.”
Also the basis for a totally unconnected 2015 Argentinean TV series, Historia de un clan (with Alejandro Awada in the lead role), the case of the Puccio family is one that holds powerful sway in the nation. “I remember the headline of the news at that time was something like, ‘A family who kidnaped their friends at home,’” says Pablo Trapero. “It’s pretty unusual. You can’t forget that.”
The Clan is released in cinemas on August 11.
