“Flipper”: three stories linked by a very thin thread

It is impossible to blame the filmography of Matías Szulanski not very fertile qualities: born in 1991, The Argentine director has released eight feature films in just five years. Leaving aside the documentary Ecosystems of the southern coastline , the bulk of this work rests on the local refinement and regurgitation of certain popular genres, with a predilection for black comedy, police comedy and terror, among others (see Astrogauchos and Pendeja, pasaya y gorda as examples). The particularity of his new film – whose title does not refer to the famous dolphin, but to the no less famous games pinball , analog fichines born in the years 40- is its quality of omnibus film, consisting of three stories linked by a very thin thread. Three medium-length films of approximately forty minutes per head that, viewed in the chosen order, go from highest to lowest, both in terms of interest and quality of production.

In the first story, starring an undaunted Fabián Arenillas and the model Piru Lasta, a man recently disengaged from his job, a fan of flippers, he borrows the Your partner’s diamond ring to get the necessary bills to buy one of the little machines, the starting point of a series of loans, debts and interests with a dangerous neighborhood loan shark, among other misadventures and personal tribulations. Szulanski relies on a humor with some Uruguayan and a lot of Kaurismaki, in which the appearance of the character played by Arenillas –immovable black glasses, pucho in the mouth during dinner, naps and any other circumstance of life– contributes great part of the humor, accompanied by a plot that is complicated at every step.

The second story of the The trilogy also includes the mention of a pinball, although it is never seen: a twenty-year-old with a love affair decides to travel to a seaside resort with two friends to buy it, but falls victim to a deception. Beyond its eclectic pretensions, the second story of Flipper , which mixes the tones of a certain cinema indie River Plate with stories of werewolves (there is a wolf boy who has little as a boy and a wolf … who knows), it never succeeds in transforming the pastiche of styles and influences into a creative calorie-rich smoothie. The third segment, meanwhile, aims to resurrect the musical style of The umbrellas of Cherbourg mounted on a debtor account of the film noir and some films by Russ Meyer, among dozens of other direct and indirect references. There are no flippers in sight here, but yes, again, diamonds, as well as a trio of professional thieves of international scope, led by María Villar in a platinum wig, and a boss played by a renowned experimental filmmaker. Altogether, the ambitions and challenges of Flipper are more interesting than its execution, which in the middle of its 123 minutes begins to show a manifest fatigue of materials.