Directing
With clear stylistic references to the spaghetti western, the film tells a story set in the Chilean countryside in a bygone era. The script, which tries to offer a folkloric costumbrista picture through an anecdote of love and revenge, is primary and unsubstantial. In many moments the film turns out to be comic when it is supposed to be dramatic and vice versa.
The story, set at the end of the 19th century, revolves around the rivalry between two families of ancient peasant lineage, the Valladares and the evil Vilches who, out of greed and sentimental revenge, try to dispossess the true owners of their land. The Valladares defend theirs, ending the conflict with a melee between the two main rivals. There are duels, fires, chases, kidnappings, betrayals and deaths. There is also a romantic note, the costumbrista landscape, the laughable moment and the folk songs.
Baltasar, a young man in his twenties, is sent by his father to live with his aunt Dolores, an elderly widow and childless widow, on the Las Pataguas farm. There he meets his neighbors, the Araneda family, owners of the El Pantano farm and parents of the beautiful Humilde, with whom Balthazar falls in love. But the girl is "bewitched" by Saúl Araneda, her seductive cousin, whom the locals consider dangerously jealous.
A country boy loves the daughter of his boss and godfather. An engineer who comes from the city is interested in the young woman who corresponds to him against his will.
An American journalist arrives in Chile to study the love life of the locals.
