User reviews

El Aura

A few months ago, a true tragedy occurred; and I'm gonna say the same thing many people did. This year, Fabián Bielinsky died of a heart attack at the age of 46 in Brasil, while promoting his second film. A heart attack was the misfortune of one of the great Argentine directors who leaves us two legacies of fabulous film-making: "Nueve Reinas" and "El Aura".

"Nueve Reinas" was a tale of the Buenos Aires reality; a tale of thieves and cops, a tale of honest people and bastards, a tale of being played (conned) in the best existent way. If America didn't watch Bielinsky's original version, they watched "Criminal"; and go check the credits because he is there and if I watched "Nueve Reinas" today, I'm sure I'd feel the same way: Wow!

It took him five years to release his second movie. I don't know when he started writing it, when he finished it and in how many time he shot it, but I know he did a flawless job. A movie like "El Aura", in any other country, is a very good film from Argentina, but for us it's something we've never seen before; something that makes us think and feel.

Argentine cinema is nationalist; it shows our customs, the family life…And that's great, because new filmmakers have the chance of telling real stories and getting to the viewer…But with Bielinsky the line is indifferent; the main character in "El Aura", a taxidermist, could be a person from any part of the world; but he is Argentinean and he goes to the Patagonia on a hunting trip.

What happens during that trip I can't tell, but hint; it's about a robbery Bielinsky's main character always dreamed of, about a dog that represents a lot more than an animal, about secrets told and secrets known, about epilepsy. The taxidermist haves these attacks and the movie begins when he has woken up after having one.

In one occasion, he is asked: "Do they hurt?". "No", he says. "I know when they're going to come; because a few seconds earlier, I feel something…The doctors call it 'aura'…" The explanation which follows that statement is a pure demonstration of the cinematographic language. Because Bielinsky understands the language, he plays freely with it.

His picture is full of silence, but it wouldn't be as good without the shots he achieves while the silence lasts and the facial expressions of the taxidermist; but that's the work of an actor. Ricardo Darín is the most popular actor of our country, but we see him act every time, and the ones who love cinema, know; that today he is also the best actor we have. Just watch him here in the silence, pay attention to his body language; he carries the whole film on his shoulders.

However, the rest of the cast is first-rate. Dolores Fonzi, Alejandro Awada, Jorge D'Elía, Pablo Cedrón, a growing young talent called Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (a cast member of the Argentine adaptation of "Desperate Housewives" Mom!) and a totally unexpected and revealing portrayal by Walter Reyno. The film has been discussed in many ways, because it might mean more than it appears to mean. Don't worry about that, just admire this unique work and then feel happy for it.

Fabián Bielinsky: May you rest in peace.

Fabián Bielinsky's last movie excellently performed by Argentina big star , Ricardo Darin . It deals with Espinoza (magnificent , as always , Ricardo Darin) is a quiet taxidermist who secretly dreams of executing the perfect crime. On his first ever hunting trip, in the calm of the Patagonian forest, his dreams are made reality with one squeeze of the trigger. Espinoza accidentally murders an old man named Dietrich (Manuel Rodal) married a young girl (a young Dolores Fonzi gives an enjoyable acting ) who results out to be a real criminal and inherits his scheme: the heist of an armored van carrying casino profits. Caught up in a world of complex new rules and frightening violence, Espinoza's lack of experience puts him in real danger. And he has another, more dangerous liability : he is an epileptic. Before each seizure he is visited by the ''aura'' . These attacks appear without notice when he least expects them, just when he needs all his wits about him .

This is a co-production Argentina/Spain , being well paced , skillfully edited and suspenseful . Interesting and exciting movie about a deluded taxidermist who plans the perfect robbery ; it is plenty of thrills , intense drama , violence , action and is pretty interesting . However , the picture turns out to be overlong and slow moving . Very good acting by Ricardo Darin as a shy taxidermist who suffers epilepsy attacks , a paradoxical moment of confusion and enlightenment where the past and future seem to blend , and he is obsessed with committing the perfect crime. Darin is an excellent leading figure of the most important Argentinian movies such as "El Faro" (1998), "El Mismo Amor La Misma Lluvia" (1999), "Nueve Reinas" (2000), "La Fuga" (2001) and especially ¨El Hijo de la Novia¨ . Stirring as well as sensitive musical score by Lucio Godoy , an extraordinary composer expert on dark atmospheres such as ¨Rage¨, ¨Night runner¨, ¨The others¨, ¨Intacto¨ and many others . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Checco Varese . The motion picture well produced by great producers Gerardo Herrero and Victor Hadida , was compellingly directed by Fabian Bielinsky , in his second and last film , the first was also successful titled ¨9 Reinas¨ also starred by Ricardo Darin and even had an American remake . Fabian sadly deceased at 47 years old . This is an above average film and Argentina's official submission to the 2006 Academy Awards for the category of Foreign Language Film . The picture will appeal to Ricardo Darin fans and thriller aficionados .

In Buenos Aires, the epileptic taxidermist Esteban Espinosa (Ricardo Darín) is a painstaking man that likes to plot the perfect heist. When his wife leaves him, he accepts the invitation of his friend Sontag (Alejandro Awada) to hunt in a forest. They rent a cabin owned by Diana Dietrich (Dolores Fonzi) and her husband Carlos Dietrich (Manuel Rodal) but soon they have an argument and Sontag returns to Buenos Aires. Esteban stays alone and while hunting a deer, he accidentally kills Dietrich near a shed. Esteban opens the shed and finds a plan for the heist of an armored truck. When he returns to the cabin, he stumbles with the criminals Sosa (Pablo Cedrón) and Montero (Walter Reyno) that are seeking out Dietrich. Now Esteban has the chance to execute the perfect crime he has dreamt on.

"El Aura" is a weird and original film with an intriguing story, beautiful cinematography and environment and good acting. Unfortunately there are unnecessary details, such as why Esteban is epileptic since it does not affect the story. The conclusion is also disappointing with Esteban's fantasy coming true but he just returning to his routine life. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Aura"

El Aura has an interesting idea (man dreams about a big time robbery and gets the chance to do so in an unexpected way) but the way it is all worked out is just too slow. Though the pace does work on some moments, and I do certainly not always mind slow paced movies, it didn't have enough tension for me to keep my thoughts constantly on the movie. The images are nice, I liked the setting, it is well shot and atmospheric, but it seemed to me that the director was too much of a perfectionist with his focus on every separate scene instead of the whole of the movie. Which is a shame, as I think that with about 45 minutes less, I would have liked it a lot more. I certainly don't mind if a shot of a thinking man takes up long seconds but if that happens all the time, with about everything that's going on, well, I know the game and it looses it's strength to me.

The script itself was also not always very believable. I'll not go into details, but the reality of the story definitely had it's flaws.

All together it was disappointing, because the potential is certainly there. If the silence would have been used only in certain parts and less in the rest of the movie, and parts of the script would have been just a bit more believable, it would have worked better for me. I know I will get down rates for this review, as most people seem to be totally lyrical about it, but I just can't make anything more of it. Slow is great if there is a lot of tension. In this case, there were too many scenes were slow was used without that needed tension.

Maybe I watched it with too high expectations. I'll still give it a 7 out of 10 because it was good enough to not give it anything less, but I might change that (to a lower number) depending on if the movie stays with me or simply fades away in my memory. It was a good try, with some beautiful shots and great moments, but really.... not thát special, and definitely overrated.

El Aura has a slow, almost hypnotic pace that Americans might have some trouble getting used to. But this Argentinean tale of a epileptic taxidermist who dreams of the perfect crime seems to me the closest anyone has ever come to successfully filming a American-style pulp crime novel from the 40's or 50's - it could have easily been written by Jim Thompson.

Ricardo Darin gives a fantastic performance as a emotionally repressed and marginalized man who fantasizes about stealing. He fancies himself smarter than everyone, but is so insecure he never takes any action. When he is presented with an opportunity to realize his dreams, he quickly finds he has overestimated his intellect and his bravado. But he has just enough luck and guile to keep himself afloat as the situation spins slowly out of control.

The direction and cinematography masterfully establish a mood of slightly uncomfortable inevitability. El Aura is lifelike in the sense that there are long periods of slow movement broken by sudden bursts of messy action and violence that don't have time to be reflected on or resolved in a nice tidy way before something else happens and attentions are directed elsewhere. A really interesting film, worth watching if you can find it – doesn't appear it's going to be released in the States.

This is another magnificent movie delivered by director Fabián Belinsky. I found the script captivating enough as to keep me tied to my seat from start to end. But besides, there's another goodie within El Aura, which is the photographic quality together with a pace that without being much too fast, remains still along the whole film -no decay at all-, making it a delight for purists and good quality cinema lovers. I found a couple of minor flaws which stand for the 9 instead of a 10, but they are indeed so minor that they can be perfectly overlooked. Moreover, Oscar Awards nomination should follow, as El Aura has absolutely nothing to envy from the very best Hollywood products. Indeed, film noir as good as it can be. Can't miss it.

Gently mesmerizing, though overstated and slightly clunky, The Aura is an original crime drama that feels a little too derivative for it's own good. Immediately we are given a lead with epilepsy, falling to the ground and blacking out in the most unusual of circumstances. Right away the concept feels slightly familiar for anyone who languished over Memento's originality, and you hate to see this gimmicky concept worked into the script. To top it off, it seems like the addition of these epileptic fits are largely superficial and have little baring on the plot's mechanics, dealing in stolen identity and the fantasy of committing crimes. The plot moves along intriguingly enough from one set-piece to the next, although lengthy shots often distract from the tightly wound script in favor of cinematographic excess. The surprising death of relatively young and promising Argentinian film-maker Fabián Bielinsky is a slight blow for Spanish thrillers, but should not lend to overselling the film on the small virtues it carries.

Mainly sinking the film past an excited response, is the dominating lead role played uniformly one-noted by a tired Ricardo Darín. It is evident his bored taxidermist character demands a certain detachment and dissatisfaction with the current lifestyle in order to convincingly sink into the world of organized crime without a second's hesitation, but here Darin substitutes any personality for the soulless take, pushing all but the most ardent viewers away with an uneventful performance.

The Aura does hold enough promise in it's development to keep a mild interest for all fans of more stylistic neo-noir type fare. The unrealistic, though sensitively captured mistaken crime fantasy does have a few finely executed moments, particularly amongst the action's more low-key points-of-view. Still, a strenuous pace, highlighting the apathetic leading character's motivations and personality, will keep most excitement and suspense to a minimum.

From the director of "Nueve Reinas", here it comes his new piece of work you won't forget.

As soon as it begins, you will applaud every Darin's gesture, while you get immersed in the plot as you follow a shy epileptic taxidermist who dreams about a perfect theft, and all of the sudden gets the chance to make his dream come true. Don't let your aura put you aside the screen, you could miss valuable details as the action moves on. Take a deep breath, sit at the edge of your seat, and let Bielinsky do his job.

A perfect script, superb acting, and wonderful Argentine landscapes make this movie a "must see" for everyone.

The Aura was the late director Fabian Bielinsky's follow-up to the exciting conman movie Nine Queens. Despite equally strong critical notices and some positive aspects, The Aura suffers from a heaviness that Nine Queens was lacking.

An epileptic taxidermist with a photographic memory has an unusual hobby. He likes to plan and imagine robberies. He is convinced that he could pull off the perfect crime. Of course, being a respected taxidermist for a Buenos Aires museum, the protagonist limits his crime sprees to daydreams. That is until he accidentally kills a stranger during an ill-advised hunting vacation. The taxidermist slowly learns that his victim was plotting the robbery of an armored car. With a nod to Antonioni's The Passenger, the taxidermist decides to follow through on his victim's heist. Along the way, for this is not a fast moving film, the protagonist begins to understand that he shares similarities to the man he killed. Both men have an obsession with detail and meticulous planning. Both men are attracted to younger women (the taxidermist finds himself drawn to the dead man's young widow). Finally, both men are befriended by a semi-wild dog. The film gives so many random shots of this dog, that most viewers will come to the conclusion that this isn't just a dog but a symbol. A symbol for what is another question. Does the canine stand for the dual nature of man, domestication and savagery, or is the dog a symbol for the film's own portentous quality?

The film's end credits break at roughly 125 minutes, which is a bit much for a modest heist film. It is clear that director Fabian Bielinsky thinks of his film as an art movie. However, the script is not strong enough to support such lofty ambitions. A couple problematic examples follow.

After the taxidermist shoots the other hunter, but before he knows the victim was a criminal, the protagonist confesses the crime neither to his friend whom he is on vacation with, nor to local authorities, nor to the dead man's widow, who owns the cabin the taxidermist is renting. Paradoxically, the taxidermist does not flee the area before the body is found. No, instead, he pockets the dead man's phone (why?) and hangs around the dead man's home. Is the taxidermist trying to work up the courage to tell the dead man's widow? Is he in shock? How is a viewer to read these actions, other than as flaws in the script?

Let's take a close look at this taxidermist. He is supposed to have an amazing memory, an obsessive attention to detail, and a fascination with true crime. In spite of all of these traits, he fails to understand, and even forgets about, an important clue. Yet, this viewer, who lacks the protagonist's picture perfect memory, knew exactly what the clue meant and did not forget about it. In addition, the protagonist has been planning the perfect crime for years, yet when he finally gets a chance to carry it out, he seems more interested in his victim's widow. Instead of spending the day before the robbery studying the dead man's plans and records, the taxidermist drives the widow to church and flirts with her.

If some of this sounds like nitpicking, The Aura, with its aesthetic aspirations, sets itself up for close scrutiny. Another draft of the script might have ironed out some of these inconsistencies. One wishes the filmmakers had spent that extra bit of time because The Aura has two strong elements to recommend it. The first is the acting. This is a first person movie, one where the protagonist is in every scene. Therefore, the lead actor needs to be especially good. To his credit, Ricardo Darin pulls it off nicely. The role calls for minimal dialogue and a maximum of thinking. Darin is always dominantly present even when he is saying nothing. Furthermore, Darin gets solid support from the rest of the cast. Secondly, The Aura boasts lively photography, which makes excellent use of the natural exteriors. The film is pleasing to the eye.

The Aura is not exactly a bad film, but one wishes it was better. Now, someone just needs to explain what the dog is supposed to mean.

Ricardo Darin's Espinosa portrait is just like my reflection in the mirror. I found myself in it. Fabian Bielinsky's 3rd directing and 5th screenplay experience happened to be his last step of his career. With El Aura, he carries us away into the world of a misunderstood desolate man. For most films, people don't like reading a review or collecting detailed information before actually seeing the film. But if the film you're approaching is a mystery and cannot be understood easily in the first view, you should get some clue of it before watching. Anyhow, El Aura is one of them.

Esteban Espinosa earns his life with taxidermy, filling up animal hides of wild-life. He is a naturalist and jack of all trades, has a strong memory and is very observant. One day waiting at a queue at the bank, he shares his most marvellous dream -to rob a bank- with his friend; while he is being offered to accompany his friend for shoot day out in the forest. On a Monday, they settle into a motel in the forest, where they weren't hosted well enough and were questioned if they are local; putting them on the jitters. With this bad mood, they start arguing while hunting for deers. After his friend insulted him and left him alone; he gets caught into a major epilepsy fit for a moment and falls in a faint. When he wakes up he is unconscious; and while aiming to shoot a deer, he suddenly turns his rifle to an old man walking in the forest and shoots him. Gaining back his conscious, he goes near to the man he shot; whose cell-phone starts to ring. Espinosa takes his cellphone and his i.d. ; then hides the corpse in a pit. To avoid the trouble he fell into, he remains calm and turns back to motel to stay there longer than planned. His friend goes back to the city, then he starts stepping towards his mysterious journey; when he finds out that the man he killed is the owner of the motel.

The screenplay segments work completely perfect: Plot is very well built, script is written professionally in a plain format, story developing at its best, character developing is well crafted, and the main theme is so wisely gives multiple messages and views. Everything we see, we hear, we witness are elements of a complete mystery. This film needs to be seen very carefully. Flashback sequences will be refreshing our memory of the earlier scenes where it's completely necessary. Also it's clearly to see that the editing and the full post-production job with music and sound effects are best fit.

I find it essential to analyze Esteban Espinosa's characterization work. There are 4 basic factors that differentiates Espinosa's character:

1/His life... 2/His dreams... 3/His self-defensive attitudes... 4/His disability:Epilepsy

He is not happy living his life on his own. He has a hidden adventurous character. He likes trouble, he likes testing his limits. Thus he pokes his nose into everything. He steals, collects and carries with him almost everything he thinks it's useful. In fact, Esteban Espinosa character may be an awesome sample of a Point-and-click Adventure Game. His character has been designed to be another Guybrush or another George Stobbart. Overall, El Aura is among the best of all-time Mystery/Adventure movies.

After Nine Queens, a good but perhaps somewhat overrated thriller involving con games related to some rare stamps, director Fabian Bielinski followed up with The Aura. The film involves an epileptic taxidermist (?), played by Ricardo Darin (a famous Argentine actor, who also starred in Nine Queens) who, by some improbable chances and coincidences, gets involved with a gang in a casino heist in the picturesque Patagonian Andes of Southern Argentina. The plot is not very believable: Bielinski's sources for his films are not real life, but genre films filtered by some heavy and dubious philosophizing. This is not bad in itself; directors like Fuller, Melville and John Woo made some fine films out of pulp material, but Bielinski, who died of a heart attack soon after Aura was released in Argentina, was unfortunately not on their league. His two films show him as a competent genre filmmaker, but neither of those rise up to what can be considered a great film, in my opinion.

Esteban is a taxidermist that spends his free time in planning for perfect robs, one day, due to an hunt accident, he is able to fulfill his dreams and really do it. At first moved by curiosity and then, almost forced, he will plan and act as brain in a gang in an assault to a bank-furgon. The movie has a superb work of photography as all is in mid-darkness and exhales an aura of offspring absolutely convincing. Darín is, as always, impressive in his paper of "weird" one. On the other hand, the development of the film is SO slow that the story, rather than increase, losses all its interest. The 2 hours it last become almost a torture, as in most of the movie, nothing happens and when it happens, its not very well done. In fact it is a movie that I should not recommend, although I must admit that the 2 good points that the movie has are very good, but a movie must be also interesting, and this is not.

I can't think off hand of other directors who showed so much promise yet left us so early and with such a few films to remember them by. In any case and in light of his final film, the amount of great film-making we were deprived with Fabián Bielinsky's untimely death at the age of 47 simply boggles the mind. I remember seeing years ago upon a friend's enthusiastic recommendation his previous film, NINE QUEENS, and thinking to myself how it was a darn good crime movie. But this? This plays with the greats.

I won't go into plot specifics. This is the kind of film you have to soak up with no prior knowledge. Not because plot is inconsequential to the movie, it IS after all a noir film at heart, but for the fact that putting the plot in words is bound to miss the point. I'll only post the keywords IMDb associates with it and let you fill the gaps;

Heist | Epilepsy | Neo Noir | Taxidermy | Armored Car Robbery

What Bielinsky does brilliantly, and what is indeed the mark of all great cinema, is that he writes scenes we're familiar with from prior cinematic experience, scenes that in paper might sound anticlimactic or generic, but writes them in completely different, unexpected ways. But even before the heist-goes-wrong scenario of every good heist movie comes into play in ways at once unexpected but vaguely familiar, with a palpable sense of "that's how a heist would go wrong" not with a bang but with a whimper, Bielinsky has piled the atmosphere so thick and built for himself such an engrossing movie, that the outcome of the heist is largely inconsequential.

The beauty and power of the movie rests exactly there. That it's in no rush to explain anything, that it's not anxious to impress or please yet precisely that it does. You don't meet halfways with EL AURA, you meet it on its own terms. Not as a character study of a would-be criminal (the motivation of the protagonist remains vague), but as a mood piece, a fantastical world of possibilities where the course of action seemss stunningly real.

Compared to the flashy crimedies of our days where things go wrong so characters the sum of their external quirks can spout cutesy, clever dialogue at each other, EL AURA seems of another time and place. The only other film this decade that can look it straight in the eye and be worthy of its company is NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. Dripping with rural atmosphere, graced with amazing camera-work and cinematography and meticulous attention to sound detail, EL AURA is nothing short of one of the greatest movies of the decade. How it didn't win major festivals is one of the great mysteries of our time. 10

I've enjoyed "Nueve Reinas" very much, so I've eagerly awaited Bielinsky's next film, with satisfaction Í could say that the waiting was worth paid. "El Aura" from my point of view is excellent, a classical film noir movie, but in the woods, it's atmosphere claustrophobic even wile the action was shot in the wild, and Darin's performance outstanding. I recommended it. But if you don't like that kind of pictures, please don't go thinking in "Nueve Reinas" this one is quiet different, less joyful and more dense, its end is like coughing in a room full of smoke. "El aura" leads you throw its atmosphere with a slow pace, descending to the deepest basement of the characters soul where everybody hides a secret ready to be released.

It's a shame that one of the most talented newcomers of the Latin-American cinema is now dead. Fabian Bielinsky delivers another fantastic movie, written by him, like the amazing "Nueve Reinas – Nine Queens". The lead is once again Ricardo Darin, and this is another proof that this union (Bielinsky-Darin) is unstoppable. The story is about a taxidermist with a great memory and epilepsy.

Ricardo Darin's performance is excellent: quiet, meticulous, and sharp. The movie is quite long, but the ending is perfect. Everything is where it should be. Is particularly original the way that Bielinsky presents the seizures on the lead role: the aura, is a moment of a "mixed up" reality when everything can happen.

Simply fantastic, please dedicate time to see this last job of a very great artist.

I've just seen this film at the Auckland Film Festival, however my feelings about this film is mixed.

First off, i thought the plot was very original with very clever twist. but however, the pace of the film let down the whole movie, its a waste that such good plot was told in such slow motion. also, i must protest that the acting was disappointing.

apart from these, this is generally a good film but it doesn't leave me overwhelmed. i don't think this is a masterpiece and i recommend you not watching it if you're impatient.

there's not much use of dialogue in this film but all information is delivered well enough. the direction has quite unique shots and cuts at sometimes, but overall this film is a little overrated

Fabian Bielinsky's sudden death gave me an incentive to write these lines. Since the first time I watched "El aura" (The aura) -three times by now- I was touched by an awkward, strange feeling. ¿What was about? A story of a zombie, a man who is not aware about his own death (This is not an spoiler, nothing to do with the plot). In a way, it was the same thing I felt watching "Carnival of Souls" (Herk Harvey 1962). These movies are not only about ghosts, lost souls, lost people, they were made by them. Ricardo Darin's character is Bielinsky himself: had he the feeling about his impending end? If you didn't know anything about this weird tale, take a look of it. Some people complain about its pace, the story, the absolute lack of sense of humor. And they compare El Aura with Nine Queens, the other Bielinsky's movie. In my point of view Nine Queen is a nice, frivolous exercise, but once and for all, "El aura" is a whole new game, a different stage. If you are in the right mood, it will take you to another world, the world from Bielinsky was making this film, near his own end.

Darin is excellent as always but the film dragged on for too long with too many dull, dead spots.

I saw the movie expecting nothing from it, and I was completely astounded. The main issue of the movie, Darin character's inner desires of achieving a major theft, drives the main character to unexpected consequences, from his vane curiosity only. Darin's role is an epileptic taxidermist longing for something else from his boring life; I think that the oppression of the character is perfectly reflected by Darin who gives what I think is his best acting role ever. I was surprised also by Pablo Cedrón, a man which is very funny (remember chachacha and his Paraguayan sexologist) but here plays a violent skeptical man with hidden plans.

The Aura is definitely a beautifully done film. The music, cinematography, scene changes, and beautiful landscapes make the film quite enjoyable to watch. The plot, while quite intense and complicated, moves at a pace more in line with the simple beauty of the production of the film than it does with what is actually happening. Each day is long and drawn out partially because so much happens in one day but also because everything seems to flow at a slow pace, even the intense and violent scenes. I appreciate the way the film progresses but I do not know if it fits well with the plot. That being said, it is still a wonderful movie to watch.

I give this movie credit for being the only one I have seen that has an epileptic taxidermist as a protagonist. I assume that there is some meaning intended by the taxidermist's day job and the frequent appearance of a dog with an ominous stare, but whatever meaning is there escaped me.

It does not take long to understand that this is a mood piece rather than a realistic crime drama, and it succeeded for me in that context. It's just that I did not care for the mood it put me in, bordering on existential despair. The drone of the menacing score creates a somber mood--it's the kind of music that is meant to suggest significance and depth, but I found it repetitive and ultimately irritating. And don't look for any comic relief here, there is none.

The setup for the heist is interesting, but in the end the crime story devolves into a rather standard conclusion.

My interpretation of the final scene that had the dog glaring at us was that he was trying to say to us that we should be ashamed for having watched this.

What with long takes and extended silences I found this to be overly ponderous and plodding.