As the movie begins, Matteo Popolano is released from jail in the small town of Trenque Lauquen in the great plains of Buenos Aires Province. We were informed after the titles that Matteo emigrated to Argentina at an early age. Matteo is 41 and the time frame is the mid thirties. Matteo is an avowed anarchist, which is the reason he was in jail. We assume his transgression was minor, since anarchism was harshly persecuted in Argentina in the thirties; some anarchists were executed by the Army or extrajudicially murdered by the police.
Matteo reconnects with old acquaintances and friends in Trenque Lauquen, recovers an old rickety truck stored for him by a friend, and starts a journey in a general southerly direction that takes him from Trenque Lauquen to the small towns of Guaminí, Tres Arroyos, Bajo Hondo and Villarino, each the title of one of the film's chapters. His quest is locating fellow anarchists of his past and recover a gamecock that he had entered in cockfights before jail. Without any resources, he finances his trip with pretty theft. He meets and gives a lift to Aurelia, in her late teens and her younger brother Carmelo. They have recently lost their mother and are trying to locate their absent father, of whose whereabouts they have little information
If the movie could be classified it would be in the genre minimalist road movie that comes naturally to Latin American directors; e. G. Famiia Rodante (2004) by Pablo Trapero, El Camino de San Diego (2006) by Carlos Sorin, Las Acacias (2011) by Pablo Giorgelli and El Silencio es Bienvenido (2017) by Gabriela García Rivas. However, this movie is more austere and spare than any of films above (perhaps a little too much at times). Director and scriptwriter Fernanda Ramondo has woven a fascinating, at times moving tale supported by the cinematography of Lucio Bonelli, that captures the sun washed summer landscapes of the Buenos Aires plains. Acting by Leonardo Sbaraglia is as usual excellent and the supporting cast is at the same level. This is Ramado's first feature film and I will be looking for more of her work.
A curiosity: Matteo's truck has the steering wheel on the right and he drives on the left side of the road. That was the way traffic circulated in Argentina before 1945, when the right side rule was adopted.
