The Old Thieves: The Legend of Artegio

Los ladrones viejos. Las leyendas del artegio
The Old Thieves: The Legend of Artegio

directed by
Everaldo Gonzalez

screenplay
Everado Gonzalez

cinematography
Martin Boege, Everado Gonzalez, Gerardo Montiel Klint

music
Rodrigo Garibay/Matias Barberis

sound
Gabriela Espinoza

editing
Juan Manuel Figueroa

producer
Issa Guerra, Everardo Gonzales, Roberto Garza, Alejandro Molina
production
Artgios

world sales
Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografia (IMCINE)
Insurgentes Sur 674
Col.Del Valle,
C.P. 03100
Mexico City
T 54485300
E informes@imcine.gob.mx

format
35 mm, barvni/colour

running time
97'

Theft is usually a family matter. It is a trade that passes from father to son and provides a decent living for the family. If this skill is mastered to the degree of artegio, that can penetrate through the security of presidents or the theft happens at the important event, widely covered by the media, thieves become famous, legends. This is even more so, if they follow a strict code, which prohibits selling out other thieves and requires no violence towards robbed victims, who have to be richer than thieves. If they also manage to bribe police officers, who build their careers on famous arrests, and survive non-humane torture from those, who could not be bribed, thieves can easily walk out of jail any time they want.

At least that is what claims El carrizo in a documentary film about an elegant Mexican bandit from the 60s. He became famous when he robbed the Mexican president. A story told by policemen differs in many details from the story of aged thieves in jail. With skilful editing of supportive and contradictory shots of interviews of thieves, policemen, passers-by, children, who steal in the streets today, and archive television shots of old on-the-spot reports about thefts, mixed with parts of comical silent movies about bandits, Gonzales' documentary slowly and skilfully decomposes the glorification of thieves' lives and questions the truth of what is told. Again, he questions the reliability of old thieves’ memory and possibly of conscious or unconscious manipulations and glorification of their acts to keep their status of urban legend.

Although it seems that by bringing multiple perspectives into light, the author does not want to give his position, the affection can be seen towards good old times, when Robin Hoods stole in a clean way, without violence towards their richer victims and when the thieves were almost forced to steal due to bad social conditions, difficult childhood and poverty. Almost the same future can be predicted for a boy from the last sequence, from whom the police took his tools for cleaning shoes. What artegio will he live from now?

»This type of delinquents that boast about their almost artistic skills, their ability to seduce and tricks their victims as well as having quick fingers have evolved in later years /…/ Artegios became legends in barrios.« (Everaldo Gonzalez)

Everaldo Gonzalez

He was born in 1971 in the USA. He studied social communications, photography and film. Currently he works as a director and a cameraman for the television series Mexico New Millennium. In the past he directed many feature and documentary films, for which he received awards: Gladiola (1999), Zurcido Invisible (2001–2002), Santa Rita (2003). His last awarded film is a documentary about brewers of mythical Mexican drink pulque titled La canción del pulque (2003).