A Simple Story: The Last Malambo

What is there to say about a story as simple as this one? "This is the story of a man who took part in a dance contest," its first line declares, and that's what it is: a short portrait, told in the plainest of language, of the National Malambo Competition in the small Argentinian town of Laborde, and of one charismatic competitor, Rodolfo González Alcántara. Roldolfo has little to say—he lets his dancing, which expresses a thrilling passion while abiding by the strict rules of the Malabo, speak for him—and Guerriero follows his lead, practicing an austere style that, through its very restraint, somehow evokes the furious yearning of her subject.