Film – in gallop over the pampas

Dust -dry sandy soil, three gauchos gallop between spiky shrubs. The pampas are wide and barren, the horses are quick and agile. The Gauchos almost fly away with their horses. Due to the black and white images, the structures become even more precise. Individual gnarled trees, cacti, a little grass in between. It hasn’t rained for a long time. Too long. A beef that has moved away from the freely grazing herd is sought. The gauchos find it died at a dried water. The three of them stand around the dead cow, their hats removed, in their hands. A funeral ritual full of respect. They live with the animals. The film »Gaucho Gaucho« shows in careful recordings how close they are to their horses. There are more and more condors that circle over the herds to tear a calf, two other gauchos are discussed. The Andes are close, Buenos Aires is far.

In three parallel action lines, “Gaucho Gaucho” tells of life in a remote, village community of gaucho families in northern Argentina. Traditions are held up, and so it is not easy for the 17-year-old Guada to assert themselves in the male domain of riding and beef cattle and become Gaucha.

Your word applies, you don’t let any command, fight for your interests.

–

In her storyline it is nice to see how important the trust between horse and rider is that she builds up. In a scene very typically filmed for the film, she sits her father opposite at the wooden table, which has been scrubbed smoothly by scrubbing for many years. The image structure is symmetrical. She listens carefully how he encourages her to do what she wants.

The second strand of action observes Solano, a young father, how he teaches his five -year -old son everything he later needs as a gaucho in handicraft techniques: knife loops, lassoflets that use the machete in the undergrowth. The 84-year-old Lelo once explains to the boy how important it is to keep up the values ​​of a gauchos: your word applies, you don’t let anything command you, fight for your interests. What sounds archaic is primarily due to the hard living conditions – so farm construction only takes place with the simplest technical means. A real gaucho, this is a gaucho gaucho, emphasizes the old one with the white full beard. In the belt it traditionally carries an impressively large gaucho knife.

It is shown how Guada lets herself tailor a jacket for a large jineada. A big event. Santino, which also moderates in the municipal radio station, leads through the event, introduces the rider and the one rider. A Jineada is about staying on the back of a wild horse as long as possible, which is allocated to you shortly before. The next day, Guada limps simple wooden crutches in front of the house, but that was worth it, she explains on another occasion.

“Gaucho Gaucho” is actually not a documentary, but a fascinating, ethnographic feature film in his visual language, which also shows what the two directors want to see. But this with such a beautifully looking artistry and empathy that it is a pleasure. Just like listening. So the moderator Santino himself sings “Ojos Azules” at the end, and at the beginning you can hear in a riding scene “Au Fond du Temple Saint – Le Pecheurs de Perles” by George Bizet. In a poetic combination, the gauchos flying on horses.

»Gaucho Gaucho«: USA/Argentinien 2024, Regie: Michael Deck Gregory Kershaw,. MIT: Guada Gonza, Mario Choque, Alcira Gutierrez. 85 MINUTEN, START: 11. SEPTEMBER.