A Place in Time

This film offers a choral portrait of a handful of characters who live in a remote little town at the arid mountains of La Rioja, northwest Argentina. The common theme, though quite subtle, is the meddling of politics in their traditional way of life -most of the scenes take place against the background of the upcoming elections. Unlike the common take on this subject in recent Argentine documentaries, this film's approach is never direct, dogmatic or moralizing -despite some bizarre scenes of the election campaign, or an even more bizarre, albeit unsettling, scene of election fraud-, but remains strictly respectful to the characters' everyday concerns, reflexions and, above all, sense of humor. It provides an authentic insight on the way politics work in Argentina's "deep inlands". The cinematography is excellent; beyond the easily breathtaking sceneries, it shines in the intimate portraits, indoors and nocturnal scenes. The music keeps good company to those warm and introspective images -suitable enough, at times recalling Ry Cooder's scraped guitars for "Paris, Texas": this is, as well, a film about timeless and forgotten places and lost characters in search of their identity. Highly recommended.