Annual Top Films Lists

Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2019: #123. El cuento de las comadrejas – Juan José Campanella

Published on January 2, 2019

The Weasels (El Cuento de las comadrejas)

Argentina’s Juan José Campanella, who oscillates back and forth between television and film, returns with eighth feature The Weasels (El Cuento de las comadrejas), a remake of the 1976 film Yesterday’s Guys Used No Arsenic from Jose A. Martinez Suarez. Produced by Campanella and Telefe’s Axel Kuschevatzky (The Secret in Their Eyes, 2009; Neruda, 2016), the project stars Clara Lago (The Commuter, 2018), Oscar Martinez (Wild Tales, 2014), Luis Brandoni and Graciela Borges. Juan Jose Campanella is best known for his 2009 title The Secret in Their Eyes (review / interview), which competed in San Sebastian and won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film (the title was remade in English in 2015 starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts). Campanella’s last feature was 2013’s animated Underdogs.

Gist: When a former movie diva decides to move out of her mansion, her husband, administrator and lawyer feel otherwise about the move. When she hires a real estate agent, a plan is put into motion to rid herself of these naysayers.

Release Date/Prediction: Campanella filmed in Buenos Aires over the summer of 2018. Considering this is a remake of a noted Argentinean film and the director’s first live-action production since his Oscar win in 2009, a premiere in Berlin might be a possibility or in Un Certain Regard or Directors’ Fortnight.

Nicholas Bell

Los Angeles based Nicholas Bell is IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic and covers film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and TIFF. He is part of the critic groups on Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and GALECA. His top 3 for 2021: France (Bruno Dumont), Passing (Rebecca Hall) and Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro). He was a jury member at the 2019 Cleveland International Film Festival.