Skip to content

Vaquero (2011)

Directed by: Juan Minujín

2 stars

Vaquero is the story of a supporting actor hoping for a break into the big time via a Hollywood western being shot in Argentina.  The film follows Julián as he resents his way through day after day on a film-set, at the theatre, with assorted members of his family or alone in his apartment, where his voiced thoughts give us a glimpse into his violent fantasies.  Eventually, the offer of an audition gives him the prospect of the break he’s been looking for, just a he starts a relationship with a sweet member of the crew on his current movie.  Will he win his spurs and get the girl?  Or can he snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?

There’s a thread running through Vaquero of resentment towards American cultural imperialism, but I don’t think writer/director/star Minujín has anti-Americanism as his intent.  Rather, he seem to be giving voice to an ambivalent frustration about an Argentinian fawning to all things American, whether it’s their film industry, their porn-stars or their computers.  Self-hatred is the name of the game here, and no one exhibits it more than Julián.

And that’s one of the problems with this quirky but flawed movie.  TIFF’s programme notes describe the comedy as “hilarious and dark” but that is being very generous: the comedy is so sparse, and so gentle, that it’s in danger of fizzling out entirely.   Minujín shoots the movie almost entirely in varying degrees of close-up, using hand-held cameras that make us feel like we’re watching the making-of documentary, rather than the movie itself.  Overall, it feels like a short film about an audition that has been expanded into a full-length feature, with the extra minutes seriously underwritten.  Disappointing.

No comments yet

Leave a Reply

You may use basic HTML in your comments. Your email address will not be published.

Subscribe to this comment feed via RSS