Viewed at San Sebastian, September, 2004. Drama: In Patagonia, a mechanic who dreams of a different life starts to think big after his adopted pup wins first prize at a local dog show.
Today's competition program opened with "BOMBON, The Dog", (Bombón, el Perro) an Argentine film by Carlos Sorín who won a jury prize here two years ago with "Minimal Stories". This director works characteristically with non-professional actors who appear in his films under their real names. "Bom-Bon" is the name of a docile white mastiff who shares the lead with a gentle man from Patagonia by the name of Juan Villegas. Juan, after losing his job in a remote desert gas station, held for twenty years, acquires this unusual dog (a white mastiff called "dogo", native to Argentina) whereupon he decides to become a dog raiser and "expositor" – he will prepare his canine protégé for dog shows, but, at the moment his only rep is his close friend Bombón the "dogo". This rare breed is highly sought after for stud services in the outlying southern provinces of the country. One problem: Bombon is a virgin and doesn't know what to do when enclosed with a female in heat.
Following a most amusing insemination fiasco, he finally escapes from his kennel and learns the fine art of stud service on his own with a lovely black bitch in a brickyard. This is a gentle, beautiful film, set in a region of Argentina similar to the more arid parts of the American Southwest, and is a welcome change from the violence misery and cruelty that has contaminated all other Latino entries I have seen so far. "Bombon" will undoubtedly score big on the festival circuit and will, hopefully, find commercial outlets as well.
Today's competition program opened with "BOMBON, The Dog", (Bombón, el Perro) an Argentine film by Carlos Sorín who won a jury prize here two years ago with "Minimal Stories". This director works characteristically with non-professional actors who appear in his films under their real names. "Bom-Bon" is the name of a docile white mastiff who shares the lead with a gentle man from Patagonia by the name of Juan Villegas. Juan, after losing his job in a remote desert gas station, held for twenty years, acquires this unusual dog (a white mastiff called "dogo", native to Argentina) whereupon he decides to become a dog raiser and "expositor" – he will prepare his canine protégé for dog shows, but, at the moment his only rep is his close friend Bombón the "dogo". This rare breed is highly sought after for stud services in the outlying southern provinces of the country. One problem: Bombon is a virgin and doesn't know what to do when enclosed with a female in heat.
Following a most amusing insemination fiasco, he finally escapes from his kennel and learns the fine art of stud service on his own with a lovely black bitch in a brickyard. This is a gentle, beautiful film, set in a region of Argentina similar to the more arid parts of the American Southwest, and is a welcome change from the violence misery and cruelty that has contaminated all other Latino entries I have seen so far. "Bombon" will undoubtedly score big on the festival circuit and will, hopefully, find commercial outlets as well.