This innovative study finds that, through his unique representation of violence, Argentine director Pablo Trapero has established himself as one of the 21st century's distinctly political filmmakers. By examining the broad concept of violence and how it is represented on-screen, Douglas Mulliken identifies and analyzes the ways in which Trapero utilizes violence, particularly Zizek's concept of objective violence, as a means through which to mediate the political
Through a focus on several previously under-studied elements of Trapero's films, Mulliken highlights the ways in which the director's work represents present-day concerns about social inequalities and injustice in neoliberal Argentina on-screen. Finally, he examines how Trapero combines aspects of Argentina's long tradition of political film with elements of Nuevo Cine Argentino to create a unique political voice.

Douglas Mulliken received his PhD from the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Glasgow, UK. He holds master's degrees from the University of Virginia and the University of Cape Town. In addition to his work on Argentina, he has published on Mozambican cinema.

Introduction
o A History of Violence
o A Hauntology of Violence
o The Changing Nature of Political Film
o Neoliberalism and Ideology
o A Cyclical Career
Part I: The Individual and the State
· 1. Neoliberalism, Violence, and the New Argentina
o 1.1 The Violence of Neoliberalism
§ From Objective to Subjective Violence
§ Masculinity in Crisis
o 1.2 Mundo Grúa
§ The Precariat on Screen
§ Physical and Emotional Estrangement
o 1.3 Carancho
§ What is Shown, What is Not
§ Resistance and the Middle Class
§ Margani v. Darín
§ Response to Violence
· 2. Repression, Ideology, and the Manipulation of Power
o 2.1 Theories of Power
o 2.2 El Bonaerense
§ El Conurbano
§ "La Bonaerense"
§ Police Repressive State Apparatus
§ Zapa
o 2.3 Elefante Blanco
§ Ciudad Oculta and the Catholic Church
§ Authority and the Legacy of Mugica
§ State Violence and Death
Part II: Violence and the Family
· 3. The Violence of the Arborescent Family
o 3.1 Theories of the Family
§ Family and Control
§ Family as Source of Violence
o 3.2 Familia Rodante
§ The Potent Symbolism of the Family
§ The Family as a Locus of Retention
§ Discipline and Rebellion
o 3.3 El Clan
§ Adult Paranoiacs, Child Neurotics
§ The Violence of the Family
· 4. The Rhizome as Alternative Family Model
o 4.1 Rhizomes and the becoming-family
§ Prison: Arborescent or Rhizomatic?
§ The State of Exception
o 4.2 Nacido y Criado
§ Desaparecidos
§ Homo Sacer and the State of Exception
§ Patagonia and Rhizomes
o 4.3 Leonera
§ Prison and Prison Films
§ Rhizomatic Families
Conclusion
Appendix: Interview with Pablo Trapero