Osvaldo Soriano, the author of the novel in which this film is based, got his title from the lyrics of a famous popular tango. His satire was against the military regime that came into being after the second Peron government, a dark period for Argentina, indeed. Hector Olivera directed the film with great sense of style. The screen play was an adaptation by the director and Roberto Cossa.
The story takes us to a small town in the interior of the country where a man, who works for the city, has been singled out as being a communist and must be eliminated from his job. The mayor, Ignacio Fuentes, a man of principles, decides to confront the bullies that are trying to impose their own values and have the support of the big man in town, Suprino, who is dead set in purging the bad element from the municipal government, even though Fuentes, is a man that has followed Peron.
The confrontation turns violent as Fuentes and his loyal employees do the impossible to resist the attack Suprino, and Llanos, who is in charge of the army, start shooting with all they have. The hand of a strong man is behind all they are doing. Guglielmo, a rich and powerful man wants to have the rebels killed. There is a funny incident in which an aviator, Cervino, loads his small one engine plane with manure and flies all over the people that are fighting Fuentes and drops his "odorous" cargo.
The DVD we saw recently is of poor quality. Not having seen the original print, we can't make any assessments, but the story suffers as the dark colors predominate, leaving us in the dark during some key scenes.
A great cast was assembled for this film. Some of the best Argentine actors of stage and screen can be seen in it. Best of all, Federico Luppi, who makes Fuentes the best thing in the movie. Hector Bidondi is seen as Suprino. Lauraro Murua plays Dr. Guglielmi, the man behind creating the conflict. Miguel Angel Sola, Victor Laplace, Tacholas, Ulises Dumont, Rodolfo Ranni, are seen in key supporting roles.
The film reflects a sad moment in the history of Argentina.
