Tragicomedy with social commentary is a great tradition within Argentinean cinema, and while _Juan que reía_ may not be its best example, it is nevertheless a very good, thought-provoking film.
Juan Libonatti (Luis Brandoni) and his wife Betty (Luisina Brando) are a typical Argentinean middle-class couple. He is a salesman who is waiting for a hospitalized co-worker to finally pass away so that he may be assigned the co-worker's area. She is the one with her feet on the ground, though her mother (the hilarious Ana María Campoy) is obsessed with the lottery and her father (Dringue Farías) has made the philosophical decision to off himself, and may commit suicide at any time. Ok, so maybe Juan and Betty not that typical. The film traces the comic and tragic consequences of an unfortunate event that upsets Juan's plans to climb the corporate ladder.
Carlos Galettini would go on to direct several cheap comedies in the 80s and 90s, such as _Los bañeros más locos del mundo_ (1987), the _Extermineitors_ films (1989-1992), and the first Argentinean film I ever saw, the uproariously campy _Las locuras del extraterrestre_ (1988). He is also responsible for the irredeemable horror film _Charly, días de sangre_ (1990). _Juan que reía_ does not belong in this group. It is so much more than commercial cinema. I would put it in the same category as _Plata dulce_ (Fernando Ayala, 1982).
_Juan que reía_ is a film to remember. It has an element of _Bicycle Thieves_ (Vittorio De Sica, 1948), though the circumstances, the approach, and the narrative purpose are of course totally different. Several brief appearances give color to the film: Federico Luppi as the boss, Ana María Giunta as another lottery-mad lady, Gianni Lunadei as an elderly Italian man, and Enrique Pinti as the owner of a clothing store. Alberto Fernández de Rosa (who played Paquito in _Breve cielo_) is given a few seconds of screen time too. A great film.
