Horacio Quiroga was born in Salto, Uruguay in 1878 and died in 1937 in Buenos Aires, across the River Plate. He became one of foremost members of the Argentine literary establishment. He was the photographer of an expedition to the ruins of the Jesuit Missions, long ago abandoned and swallowed by the jungle in the northernmost province of Misiones. Fascinated by the wild environment, Quiroga established himself in Misiones. Back in Buenos Aires he published several books of short stories about his sojourn in the wilds. His works enjoyed instant success, were translated to many languages and are still in print; his artistry in short stories has often been compared to that of Edgar Allan Poe.
The script of Prisioners de la Tierra (Prisoners of the Land) was assembled from several stories. The subject is the life of the mensú (short for mensualero, worker paid monthly) in the yerba mate plantations (yerba, a sort of tea, is the national drink). The mensú was subject to backbreaking working conditions in the tropical jungle and was paid with phony money that could only be used in his employer's stores and taverns. Inevitably, the mensú fell into debt and became an indentured slave, his escape prevented by capangas, mounted company goons.
This movie was for a time only available in worn out, faded copies, the original long missing. Fortunately, a restored version was produced by the Cinemateca de Chile and the Lucas Foundation and is available in YouTube. We can now appreciate the expressionist cinematography of Berlin born Pablo Tabernero, who had a brilliant career in Argentine movies. Italian born director Mario Soffici was a solid studio director capable of doing justice to a good script, and his work here is first rate. Lead actor Angel Magaña was at the beginning of a successful career spanning four decades. He was low key, expressive and as good in drama as in comedy; he always avoided overacting and excessive sentimentality.
Prisioneros de la Tierra marked the beginning of Latin American movies with strong social contest. It was considered for a long time the best Argentine film of all times.
