Las Acacias

Argentina has furnished me with two favorite films: "The Dancer and the Thief" and "The Secret in their Eyes," now I'll add a third. "Las Acacias" seems to be a Chick Flick, at least our opinions were divided along gender lines at this screening for the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival. One fellow (you know who you are!) likened it to watching paint dry, while a gal and I were rhapsodizing over the subtle hints of a smile or the gradual lift of someone's shoulder.

We are with Rubén, a long-haul truck driver who transports freshly cut timber from Asunción del Paraguay to Buenas Aires. He has been paid to carry a passenger this time: Jacinta, a woman on her way to a new job at her mother's place of employment. To his dismay, she has a five-month-old daughter in her arms. He keeps his end of the bargain, but has a lot of misgivings.

For some of us, these things may seem delicious, for others, not so much:

• To hear maybe five minutes total of dialogue in this entire 85- minute film.
• To watch two solitary people gradually make attempts at conversation.
• To admire the skill with which that baby was directed: her eyes always watched the person she was supposed to be looking at, never at the camera; she cried on cue; she slept on cue; and right after he yawned, she did too, just like people really do!
• To examine the adult faces for any sign of emotion. It takes him over half a day to offer even a hint of a smile...and that's toward the baby and is barely a hint.
• To smile when the world's cutest baby objects to his smoke, whereupon he opens his window and tosses out the cigarette.

Not only is that baby amazingly well directed, but they have managed to capture the tedium of long-haul trucking. This truck ride is notable in it's authenticity! To us gals, the ending was worth the time we spent watching that slow, slow thaw between two solitary people who clearly have been through some hard times.

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This trailer has English captions:
http://www.cinemagia.ro/trailer/las-acacias-6194/
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