Acting
The film portrays the 1952 revolution and 1980 coup in Bolivia through the lives of two brothers, Juan JosĂ© and MartĂn. Juan JosĂ©, the legitimate son of LuĂs, is transformed, by his experiences as a youth in 1950s, to become a boss of one of the groups of paramilitaries during the 1980 coup. MartĂn, the illegitimate son of LuĂs and an indigenous peasant, becomes a trade union leader during that period.
JesĂşs sits down at his office desk one day and suffers a heart attack; Marcos Loayza's film follows JesĂşs in the immediate aftermath.
A handsome and mysterious stranger, played by DarĂo Grandinetti, walks into the town square of Villaserena one day and strategically places loudspeakers around the town, blaring a variety of musical tunes. Soon, he begins to sell airtime to the various locals, who broadcast their own personal love dedications and (more frequently) insults for all to hear. A subplot evolves between Abelardo (the stranger), Celeste (a young woman who is chained inside her father's house to stop her running away), and JosĂ© (a young man).