Introduction to the characters and setting happens on-the-fly. Which might be alright if you know the story before you watch the movie.
First of all, I kept wondering why this professional and experienced kidnapper only kidnaps friends of his son. That is really obvious, he might as well turn himself in. Later(on wikipedia) I understood, that these were the first kidnappings of this kind. I assumed because he is so professional and cool about it, the whole thing seems very routine, no one in his family seems to mind, that he has done this sort of thing many times before. I understand now in retrospect that all these things come from his experience in the intelligence service. However, the movie never really explains that, although it is somewhat crucial for the story.
But there are still some things that don't make sense after reading about the actual story. Arquímedes says to Alex something like "my kidnappings always worked until you left". Well, at that point he previously only had kidnapped two people with Alex, which creates even further confusion when you talk about "always". Then Alex returns the lost son, Maguila, who had apparently left because of the killings. When he returns he immediately joins his fathers business, no questions asked. That doesn't make sense, considering his father only started the killings while he was abroad.
Who is Comodore? We understand that he must be some kind of government official who previously worked with Arquimedes? But then, why does he still have influence, I thought the regime has been overthrown.
Without knowing the story (or at least enough about Argentinian history from that time) before watching the film, it basically shows a serial killer at his day job. Kidnap, make ransom call, write letter, kill, next one please. Sort of boring. The actual story of a former regime officer who now works on his own and the resulting struggles with his surroundings are never properly introduced.
First of all, I kept wondering why this professional and experienced kidnapper only kidnaps friends of his son. That is really obvious, he might as well turn himself in. Later(on wikipedia) I understood, that these were the first kidnappings of this kind. I assumed because he is so professional and cool about it, the whole thing seems very routine, no one in his family seems to mind, that he has done this sort of thing many times before. I understand now in retrospect that all these things come from his experience in the intelligence service. However, the movie never really explains that, although it is somewhat crucial for the story.
But there are still some things that don't make sense after reading about the actual story. Arquímedes says to Alex something like "my kidnappings always worked until you left". Well, at that point he previously only had kidnapped two people with Alex, which creates even further confusion when you talk about "always". Then Alex returns the lost son, Maguila, who had apparently left because of the killings. When he returns he immediately joins his fathers business, no questions asked. That doesn't make sense, considering his father only started the killings while he was abroad.
Who is Comodore? We understand that he must be some kind of government official who previously worked with Arquimedes? But then, why does he still have influence, I thought the regime has been overthrown.
Without knowing the story (or at least enough about Argentinian history from that time) before watching the film, it basically shows a serial killer at his day job. Kidnap, make ransom call, write letter, kill, next one please. Sort of boring. The actual story of a former regime officer who now works on his own and the resulting struggles with his surroundings are never properly introduced.