The film tells the story of the payador José Betinotti, a mythical character in Argentine music. It faithfully reconstructs the scenarios of the early twentieth century: the workers' struggles, the party meetings of the caudillos and the circus criollo, the cradle of Argentine theater and music.
Direction
Manzi's screenplay breathes documentary authenticity into mythic material.
Score
Del Carril performs Betinotti's verses like he's exorcising ghosts.
Production
Circus criollo sets so detailed you can smell the horse manure.
Director
Ralph Pappier
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Payadores were literal rock stars of the pampas — wandering guitarists who improvised rhyming duels that could last hours and occasionally end in actual stabbings.
Homero Manzi, co-director and legendary tango lyricist, essentially made a film about his own artistic ancestors while tango itself was being commercialized for export. The nostalgia hits different when it's self-aware.
AR
