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Argentina, Korea, Brazil · 2008
1h 53m
Director Pablo Trapero
Starring Martina Gusman, Elli Medeiros, Rodrigo Santoro, Laura García
Genre Drama
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In the hazy morning after a threesome, expectant mother Julia finds her partner dead, and his fling, Ramiro, badly injured. Police arrive on the scene and promptly throw Julia behind bars, where she sinks into a deep depression. However, she sheds her quiet, defeated demeanor when the eventual birth of her son gives her a reason to live.
Part meticulous character study, part hyperrealist drama, Trapero’s film is as interested in documenting how such an institution functions on a day-to-day basis as he is in presenting the joys and pains of female cohabitation in such a confined space.
Slant Magazine by Andrew Schenker
Although the film is essentially contemplative, there’s little here worth contemplating.
Too many generic tropes for this downbeat, detached melodrama to convince as a work of social realism but a strong central performance and convincing depiction of the compartmentalisation of Argentina's women.
The Hollywood Reporter by Deborah Young
Guillermo Nieto's hand-held camerawork mimics Julia's nervous energy and keeps the audience locked up along with her, working in symbiosis with Federico Esquerro's forcefully realistic sound design.
Situated somewhere between neo-realist study and standard women in prison pic, Lion's Den too frequently wanders into common territories to make the material its own.
San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle
Unfortunately the movie is also a bit too long, and for long stretches it's about as entertaining as, well, a long stretch. Still, if this were one of those movie-review TV shows, I'd have to give Lion's Den a (tiny) thumb's up, for its aura of authenticity and for the ferocity of Gusman's commitment.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
Frustratingly, the film tells us little about the crime itself and the denouement is a little unconvincing. The taste of sweat and fear is, however, real enough.
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
Although it is not a comedy, Lion’s Den is suffused with sense of life lived in the present. Even the grimmest moments are not exploited to instill fear and loathing.
It has the desperate vitality of something barely made-up.
The dimly lit, exquisitely composed cinematography, by Guillermo Nieto, adds to the draw of this highly recommended movie.
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