Gaucho Gaucho

Watched this at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Visually speaking, it's one of the most gorgeous black-and-white presentation ever and the documentary is an interesting observation of the lives of Argentine cowboys and cowgirls. Many of the camerawork shows the vase landscapes of Argentina with beautiful soundtrack and sound designs. Including insightful and tender examinations of the routine lives of cowboys and cowgirls in the Argentinian landscapes and environment.

With the documentary being more of an hybrid of both documentary and movie presentation, it does have some interesting structures and themes explored. While some of the structure feels a little unfocused and I did wish some of the aspects were able to dive deeper. I found myself feeling relaxed and enjoying this documentary.

The style of the movie is great but for me it lacked depth of characters.

The girl, father and son, the two boys and the old man are hihglighted but their story is not really told. Would have loved to know more about the Gaucho lifestyle but the documentary/movie doesn't really go into depth about this.

It's more about showing pictures and it that case the pictures could have been more beautifully displayed. I missed shots highlighting the nature of Argentinia.

I liked the black and white style but like I said before, the documentary doesn't educate you about the Gaucho life or the raw hardships surrounding it.

Having just returned from Argentina and ridden on a real ranch with gauchos I was keen to watch this.

I was very disappointed, visually yes it was strong but otherwise it felt so completely staged with almost laughable scenes, (was that the idea?). As I'm experienced around horses some of the scenes were excruciatingly bad - the girl trying to lead the horse by dragging it, no gaucho would do that, the ridiculous scene with the crutches after a potential non existent fall... The staged interactions. Why not let the scenery do the work, be a fly on the wall with them actually working? Perhaps because they wouldn't have got the 'timeless' quality they were so obviously desperate to achieve.

But yes, it looked good.

Watching anything in black and white these days is not for everyone, but for those who know Ansel Adam's photography, this will be appreciated for what it does and shows. The cinematography is stunning, has interesting and unique perspectives, and presents the Argentinian landscape in a stark and simple way. It comes across as part documentary and part biography, given the focus on a young woman's pursuit of a very 'macho' activity - bareback riding and taming wild horses on the pampas. The only irritant for me was the occasional intrusion of modern Argentinian music and songs, whereas the movie really thrived when traditional music and singing was played. This is not a movie for those looking for action or non-stop dialogue. A subtle and yet powerful insight into a harsh landscape and way of life that is probably fading away, like many traditional lifestyles. A unique and worthwhile movie with non-professional actors who carry off their parts very well.