Born in Chile, Lautaro Murúa's acting career took place mostly in Argentina. An actor of intense screen presence, he was as good as a leading man or as a supporting actor. What is remarkable about his acting curriculum is not that it lists 84 films; is that among these titles there are many of the best Argentine movies from the sixties to the nineties (plus a few equally good European movies).
This movie is Murúa's first attempt at direction (for a while, he unofficially assisted director Leopoldo Torres Ríos, who encouraged Murúa to direct). The script (by Jorge Washington Abalos and Augusto Roa Bastos) is an adaptation of a work by Abalos based on his experiences as a teacher in a rural community in the interior of Argentina. Murúa filmed in the same community using some of its members as actors. The result is a spare, lean movie (almost a documentary) where the characters are seen "from inside" (from the point of view of the teacher) as human beings eking out a marginal livelihood with dignity and isolated from a "civilization" that disdains or ignores them; picturesqueness is carefully avoided. This approach was rarely seen in Argentine films, and reaches a high level of excellence in this movie.
This movie is Murúa's first attempt at direction (for a while, he unofficially assisted director Leopoldo Torres Ríos, who encouraged Murúa to direct). The script (by Jorge Washington Abalos and Augusto Roa Bastos) is an adaptation of a work by Abalos based on his experiences as a teacher in a rural community in the interior of Argentina. Murúa filmed in the same community using some of its members as actors. The result is a spare, lean movie (almost a documentary) where the characters are seen "from inside" (from the point of view of the teacher) as human beings eking out a marginal livelihood with dignity and isolated from a "civilization" that disdains or ignores them; picturesqueness is carefully avoided. This approach was rarely seen in Argentine films, and reaches a high level of excellence in this movie.
