Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: GAUCHO GAUCHO [Sundance Film Festival 2024 - Park City, Utah]
The essence of lifestyle is reflected is what is love and cherished and what can be maintained. In "Gaucho Gaucho" [US Documentary Competition], directors Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw examine an essence of being in these Argentenian cattle cowboys (and cowgirl) without any kind of judgment but with an essential perspective. Captured in a beautiful black and white texture where the interactions seems poised but the conversation does not, these men talk, sing and ride while paying reference and love to their land and their cattle. Everyone and everything has a personality, even the land. Old timers talk about times have changed but also teach the younger boy in the clan stories of courting and sharpening a knife. The key story at the center is Guada who is a girl raised by her father, a guacho. She simply wants to do what he does and loves it. One of the key elements is both riding in rodeos but also gaining the trust of her horse. The way this is is built over time especially in one sequence where her father teaches her how to slide over the back of the horse to gain his trust is specifically poignant.
Guada also does learn her lessons on her first rodeo and a long shot with her on crutches shows this. The music is also such a grand part of this story, feeling almost like a Quentin Tarantino version of what the cowboys would listen to. This is of course integrated by a local DJ who is part of the culture (but one could do help but think of Steven Wright and his "Super Songs Of The 70s"). The movie though is not flippant about what is shows or matter-of-fact. It is just what is. When the gauchos and the women who work the ranch eat BBQ, it is simply about what life is about. There is no judgment, even if one holds it underneath. There is also a reference to land and to God especially with the loss of part of the herd but there is also a sense of camraderie, No Guacho is really looking to outdo the other. There is no power struggle. It might sound bland in a certain way but it is also very lyrical which is of course aided by the brilliant cinematography which doesn't use a verite but rather a widescreen style which of course alters and heightens the mood of the piece. "Guacho Gaucho" is a lyrical and faceted view of this specific lifestyle but with a sense of style and mood all its own. A
By Tim Wassberg
