2008 Films

This film makes me hear the Clash singing, “daddy was a bank robber, but he was a good man.” Serious and playful, fast paced and brilliant, this documentary on the work and life of mason, anarchist, and master counterfeiter Lucio Urtubia is a cinematic jewel. After faking millions of dollars’ worth of their checks, Lucio forces Citibank to the negotiation table and wins. Later he devises an elaborate scheme to bring governments to their knees by attacking their financial systems, but when Che Guevara fails to see its potential, the disillusioned anarchist mason cuts all ties with the rebel leader. Rarely do films treat anarchism as a significant philosophical and political movement, and when they do, they almost always fall into the traps of polemics or propaganda. Lucio is the beguiling exception. PL