The genuine "film maldit" of its generation, this picture is a rare mixture of hidden social criticism and superb film-making. All centers around Mateyko's character, named "Beto", a sort of decadent dandy trapped between his mundane existence behind the counter of the family's grocery store, and his feverishly passion for the play "Waiting for Godot". One day a stranger enters the store, a guy named Godot (a miscast Carlos Balá), who immediately sees in Beto's worshiping an opportunity for quick cash and a hide-out from the infamous Argentine secret police. When Beto's father, an hilarious Luis Tasca, figure's Godot real intentions, he orchestrates an original way to torture the poor adventurer by the means of endless playback concerts by Miguel Bosé and Juan Marcelo. There's also a love interest portrayed by a Bovarian Silvia Perez, some slapstick by the regular Alberto Irizar -if Buster Keaton were a waiter, he would have been Alberto Irizar, and a unexpected ending with Palito Ortega playing a Dantesque Extermination Angel. Mike Rivas' score adds an element of tension, and Dawi's angles and use of chiaroscuro reminds the mannerism of Murnau. I hope this film get the recognition it deserves and gets DVD distribution in its original cut. There's a version regularly shown on South American TV where the initial and final reels are inverted.
