El perro

Coco, an unemployed 52 year old mechanic,lives with his daughter in her small, chaotic family home. Poor and unable to find a job he spends his time selling knives whose handles he has specially crafted. One day he stops to help a woman whose car has broken down by towing her 150 km to her parents home. Here he fixes her car and as payment he is given a large but rather beautiful dog called Bombom by her mother. From here Coco's life changes as he meets Walter Donado who trains him to be a dog handler with the belief that Bombom will win them lots of prizes at dog shows.

A really pleasant way to spend a Monday evening. I was astonished at the acting ability of this inexperienced group, especially the lead Juan Villegas whose kindly face was quite captivating. The story was simple, effective, humorous and kept me intrigued throughout. The Argentinan landscape was a pleasant, if at times bleak, one.

I really enjoyed this film experience and highly recommend it to others.

I wasn't expecting a lot form this movie when I first bought the ticket. However the story of the mechanic whose life changed after owning a very special breed of dog turned out to be rather interesting one. The main character Coco needs to be commended for his astonishing work. His facial expressions in almost every single shot carried out some aspect of his character's naive nature. Even though the story doesn't end with a very striking ending, it can't be considered as a slowly paced one. The shot with the machines and Coco's car, where Coco is riding in the fields of the factory is a very good one indeed. Other than that, the technical aspects such as the color and the sound add a lot to the movie's close to real atmosphere.

What a movie! This is one of the movies that gives you a feeling like you've met the lead actor, like you've known him for all your life. A kind of film that in all its simplicity shows the magic of life transported on the movie canvas. Staring with the fact that during the movie you can't stop thinking "where in the hell did he found the lead actor (Juan Villegas),he must be a actor-legend in Argentina" and then you find out that man used to park the director's (Carlos Sorin) car for 5 years before he put him on film. It doesn't end here, it's that none of the actors in film are professional actors, so to speak. An art it self is getting that maximum out them and he did. Pure emotions on movie canvas, a master-piece in a small life story.

what a lovely, lovely film.

bleak and beautiful, desperate and hopeful.

i personally have a real problem watching movies that have dogs as main characters... my empathy is totally with the dog - i can rarely care less what happens to the people as long as nothing bad happens to the dog. quite a turn up then when i find myself desperately rooting for coco, bombom's new owner, lost in his new world of dog showing, naive and ripe for the picking...

brilliant movie, go see it, go buy it. don't wait for the nicholson and hooch Hollywood remake!

Sorin has managed to show an Argentina which not many Argentinians are used to see in film. With "El perro" and "Historias minimas" he surprises the audience with the complete absence of surprises. The beautifully portrayed characters in this movie are so simple that you cannot feel nothing but thankful for being able to share a part of their life. This could be seen as another of the stories Sorin showed us in "historias mínimas", but this one is maybe even more simple and it is that simplicity which makes this movie so great. It is also a great lesson for us Argentinias that are always waiting for someone who will take advantage of the main character........that is the biggest surprise this film has waiting for us.

Tomm