Villegas

Cousins Esteban and Pipa, in their late twenties, receive the news that Grandfather has died in his home town of Villegas where the cousins grew up together before leaving for Buenos Aires. Esteban is tightly self controlled, clean shaven with a job, a girlfriend and marriage in mind. Pipa is a bearded would be musician allergic ro responsibility (his first scene tries to depict that somewhat clumsily). The cousins were disconnected for years although there seems to a residue of goodwill from infancy.

Villegas (short for General Villegas) is a small town 500 km west of Buenos Aires, a leisurely six/seven hour drive. Esteban offers Pipa the ride. Esteban plans to arrive at the end of the day but a sentimental detour to a restaurant in Junín, halfway to Villegas (Pipa's initiative) delays them. Then, trying to save time avoiding a roadblock they get lost in deserted, unpaved, unlighted roads, nave to spend the night in the car and arrive the next morning, barely in time for Grandpa's burial, The whole family is there: Esteban's parents and sister, Pipa's parents and assorted town relatives.

The rest of the movie has Villegas as scenario and is on the interaction of Esteban and Pipa with each other, their parents and other relatives and friends. Old acquaintances are revisited, old flames rekindled. Pipa visits his grandfather's shuttered house in search of some souvenir and is surprised to find out that the old man had a sophisticated music taste, as his LP collection shows. There are no flashbacks and only some things are explained (e.g: what was the role of the Junín restaurant in the cousin's lives?) Other things we learn from snatches of conversation or visual hints. There is also much left for the viewer to guess (e.g; is Esteban really satisfied with his all ordered life?). At the end, we know (or think we know) much more about the cousins than at the beginning. Esteban Lamothe and Esteban Bigiardi are perfectly cast as Esteban and Pipa and direction by Gonzalo Tobal leads us smoothly through the tale. A film worth watching.