In the films of Pablo Trapero, families come in all shapes and sizes. There’s the extended, multigenerational tribe depicted in the prickly road movie Rolling Family (2004). And the surrogate clan of corrupt cops, rallying around their own kind in the gritty policier El Bonaerense (2002). Then there’s the unbreakable bond between mother and son, abandoned to the brutal realities of the carceral system in the woman-centric prison movie Lion’s Den (2008). For a filmmaker like Trapero, so attuned to questions of social inequality and injustice in modern-day Argentina, the family unit is a political vessel: as often the subject of state oppression as it is a weapon of resistance. A leading figure in the Argentine New Wave, Trapero’s move into direct political filmmaking continues a long tradition in his national cinema. Shot on location in a verité style—often with a cast of nonprofessionals—the films in this collection illuminate that shift. In these sizzling dramas, Trapero hangs his indignant inquisitions into sociopolitical and domestic dysfunction upon the sturdy frameworks of genre.

In the films of Pablo Trapero, families come in all shapes and sizes. There&#8217;s the extended, multigenerational tribe depicted in the prickly road movie Rolling Family (2004). And the surrogate clan of corrupt cops, rallying around their own kind in the gritty policier El Bonaerense (2002). Then there&#8217;s the unbreakable bond between mother and son, abandoned to the brutal realities of the carceral system in the woman-centric prison movie Lion’s Den (2008). For a filmmaker like Trapero, so attuned to questions of social inequality and injustice in modern-day Argentina, the family unit is a political vessel: as often the subject of state oppression as it is a weapon of resistance. A leading figure in the Argentine New Wave, Trapero&#8217;s move into direct political filmmaking continues a long tradition in his national cinema. Shot on location in a verité style&#8212;often with a cast of nonprofessionals&#8212;the films in this collection illuminate that shift. In these sizzling dramas, Trapero hangs his indignant inquisitions into sociopolitical and domestic dysfunction upon the sturdy frameworks of genre.

Rolling Families: Three by Pablo Trapero

ROLLING FAMILIES: THREE BY PABLO TRAPERO

A key figure in the Argentine New Wave, Pablo Trapero’s move into political filmmaking continues a long tradition in his national cinema. In these sizzling dramas, Trapero hangs his indignant inquisitions into sociopolitical and domestic dysfunction upon the sturdy frameworks of genre.

A key figure in the Argentine New Wave, Pablo Trapero&#8217;s move into political filmmaking continues a long tradition in his national cinema. In these sizzling dramas, Trapero hangs his indignant inquisitions into sociopolitical and domestic dysfunction upon the sturdy frameworks of genre.