Wind with the Gone – El viento se llevo lo que (1998)

Directed by: Alejandro Agresti | 91 minutes | drama, comedy | Actors: Vera Fogwill, Angela Molina, Fabian Vena, Jean Rochefort, Ulises Dumont, Carlos Roffé, Sergio Poves Campos, Sebastian Polonski, Pascual Condito, Lorena De Filipo, Pablo Fendrik, Mario Marquez

Soledad’s face says enough about the character of ‘El viento se llevó lo qué’: cheerful, playful, and sometimes with wide eyes in surprise. ‘El viento’ is a rather special film. A cheerful surreal allegory is told against a realistic background of a dark age. The title, ‘Wind with the Gone’, also says a lot. Because doesn’t that title look like another famous movie title? Just as the title is literally confused, so are most of the characters in this movie. In fact, Soledad (how appropriate, that name) is the only one who still seems to have it all sorted out.

Although at first she wonders where she has ended up, society in Río Pico turns out to be exactly what she is looking for: an uncomplicated and loving world in which she is valued. She soon got used to the fact that it is impossible to have a normal conversation with her beloved Pedro; that village scientist Antonio (Ulises Dumont) invents the most fantastic theories (relativity theory, psychoanalysis, social revolution), enthusiastically goes to the big city to discover that he was not the first; that hostess Maria is passionately lonely; that all villagers are fans of the faded and twisted glory of actor Edgar Wexley These are just a few examples of the madness that simply keeps the village happy.

Subtly, however, it becomes clear that changes are on the way. A coup d’état takes place in Argentina, and although the village hardly notices it thanks to the remoteness and the innocence of its inhabitants, this influence is seeping in. Antonio has his umpteenth genius idea, but this time he goes to Buenos Aires at a very ill-timed moment to ‘sell’ his idea. He has thought that everyone is equal and that everything must be shared, just like the right-wing soldiers have taken over. As a result, Antonio does not return to the village, and the residents consider him a traitor (of whom or what is not clear, by the way). If he does eventually come back, he will be taunted. In a suddenly impressive scene, he reports on the interrogation methods of those in power. Who’s crazier: the man who has no idea what’s happening to him, or the people who see his idea and thoughts as a serious threat?

Yet life goes on, and the village even revives when the widely acclaimed star from France comes to the village. Edgar Wexley has come to the source of his piles of fan mail. He wants to see the residents of Río Pico, his fans, alive for once. Here’s the ultimate inverted world! The movie star goes hunting for his fans. The unfortunate Edgar finds more than he was looking for: recognition, but also kindred spirits and love.

Edgar’s attempts to make his own film produce perhaps the most beautiful scenes. He goes with Antonio and Pedro into the wide plains of Patagonia and finds an old small farmer who tells his life story. Suddenly the film becomes a documentary starring a grandfather who undoubtedly really lived there all his life. We see how he dreams of a new house and hear the tragic story of the death of his loved ones.

After that, the story and the movie don’t really seem to go anywhere. Maria and Edgar find each other, but the communal village life with the cinema as the center seems to disappear. Especially if there is a large TV mast next to the village. Everyone now has their own TV at home, and the cinema remains empty. The accent has shifted from the cheerful craziness of the village to the quiet and peaceful lives behind the front door. Río Pico has been swallowed up by the civilized and ‘normal’ world. Reason for Soledad and Pedro to leave. It is a sad, melancholic and also somewhat disappointing end to an allegory that sparkles with joie de vivre.