Las Acacias

A truck driver hauling lumber from the forests of Paraguay to the markets in Buenos Aires is required by his boss to take a woman and her child with him. He is none too pleased, but as they travel on the mysterious 'something' happens. Not much of a story-line on the face of it, but as we journey with them we see the gradual, almost imperceptible, emergence of bonds of affection that could be turning to love.

The tale is told with very little dialogue, few settings (for most of the time we are in the truck cab) and no music. But the effect is enthralling. The acting is uniformly strong; you never doubt that you are watching 'real' people.

Of particular note is that of the three leading actors, the one who puts in the most remarkable of the excellent performances is the infant (played by Nayra Calle Namani, who could not be more than a year old). I would love to know how the director and the adult actors managed to coax this child into behaving as it does. It's magic!

This movie has a simplicity and honesty that is very moving. The faces say so much without words, so unlike the theatrical, fake emotions displayed in the previous movie I saw, The Deep Blue Sea. The images stayed with me well after I had left the theatre.

(Viewed at Screen 3, The Cornerhouse, Manchester, UK 04.12.11)

You don't know what they're thinking, you don't know how they're feeling, you can only guess. That's what makes this film intriguing and gives a "real life" feel to it. There is no background intrusive music, just the hum of a timber lorry lumbering (!) on the highway to Buenos Aires with its human cargo of man, woman and baby. One of the adults seems to have a lonely life without a family, the other one is part of a large and loving family, but there are hints of problems in their backgrounds. By journey's end you are hoping that all three will share a happy future together. By the way, there's no violence and only one brief bit of swearing.

I watched this film last night and I thought it is going to be boring. It wasn't the case in the end, because I felt like I was part of the journey, I was in the car and I couldn't hardly wait to get to Buenos Aires, and once there, I felt like I know my trip mates better. :) The baby was more than amazing! She's like a little star! I think when she'll grow up and see her performance she'll have all the reason to be proud for herself :) An achievement :)

It may seem like the whole film is event-less but I was positively surprised to see that the outcome was better then expected. I can easily imagine this to happen for real... Like I said I only recommend this film only if you're not infected with the holywoodian kind of "film".

I saw this by mistake on the UK TV channel Film 4. I am generally a fan of the Steven Segal school of movies, so you may be surprised that I found this film so powerful and enjoyable at a deep level. As other reviewers have written, very little happens. A lorry driver takes a mother and her baby daughter across Argentina and that's about it! This film is like a flower unfolding, you can't see anything happen but at the end there is something wonderful and beautiful that was not there before. The director was very brave and allows the film to drive itself rather than be driven by any need to pander to external pressures. It rings so true. I am a bit like Ruben the driver, unable to express what is in his heart, which made it a film that I identify with in a way I rarely do. The baby is brilliant! Give this film a chance, it will richly reward you!

In Paolo Giorgelli's quiet film 'Las Acacias', not a lot happens. A truck driver with a load of wood (hence the title) gives a lift, somewhat reluctantly, to a woman with a child. They don't talk a lot, but they're both lonely; by the end of the movie, they decide they'd like to see each other again. And that's it. The film covers a journey of 800 miles through South America, but there are no stunning landscapes on view: just a lot of scenes of two people sitting quietly in a cab. And yet, almost strangely, it doesn't drag: there's a feeling of truthfulness that compensates for the absence of action. In spite of being almost unremarkable by design, it's understated quality tells in the end.