Trenque Lauquen
Arguably indebted to both Antonioni and David Lynch, this challenging Argentinian two-part mystery-drama is extraordinary.
This is the first film that I have seen by the Argentinian filmmaker Laura Citarella and it is extraordinary. That description may seem self-evident given that this is a two-part work which in total lasts for over four hours. That means that some cinemas are offering it as a whole while others divide it up by screening it over two separate sessions on the same day or on consecutive days. Such a piece undoubtedly sounds daunting and in some way that proves to be the case, but even so the most remarkable fact is that it reveals Citarella to be a born storyteller, one with a beguiling cinematic gift.
The film’s title Trenque Lauquen is the name of the city in Argentina which is the main setting for this piece. Written by Citarella in collaboration with her leading actress Laura Parades, the elaborate structure created consists of twelve titled chapters (seven in Part 1 and five in Part 2) but it is built on a base that is simple enough. At the outset we meet two men with a car setting out on a quest. One is Rafa (Rafael Spregelburd) and the other is his somewhat younger companion Ezequiel (Ezequiel Pierri). Their aim is to track down Laura (that’s the role played by Laura Parades) who has suddenly disappeared but will feature prominently in the flashbacks which make up a substantial portion of the film. Laura, a botanist, had been working for the council, her job being the classification of plants in the area and Rafa, a businessman, was her middle-aged lover. As for Ezequiel he too is a council employee but his task is as a driver and in that capacity he had been assigned to take Laura wherever she needed to go. Despite Laura's involvement with Rafa, it will become clear that Ezequiel had also become attracted to her and that she had not been unresponsive. Thus it is that the two men link up to follow any clues as to where Laura might have gone and to discover what had happened to her and what her motivation might be.
The opening chapter of Trenque Lauquen is entitled ‘The Adventure’ and it is not I think by chance that this was also the title of the film that brought Antonioni to prominence (his film usually being known by its Italian title, L’Avventura). That work was notable for being one that set out as the tale of a missing girl but which, instead of offering any solution regarding her disappearance, switched into a study of the relationship that develops between two people searching for her. Not only can one trace a link to the situation depicted here but this referencing of L'Avventura is arguably a hint that audiences at Trenque Lauquen should not expect a plot with any clear resolution. Indeed, the fact is that the centre of interest in Citarella’s film lies not in the narrative as such but in the way that we are invited to ponder on what the behaviour and outlook of the characters tells us about human nature.
Quite early on in Part 1 we learn that Laura had additional work at a local radio station where she contributed talks on the theme of Women in History. One such was about Lady Godiva but when Laura and Ezequiel come to talk about it afterwards each adopts their own view of her famous naked ride through Coventry. Ezequiel reveals something of himself by eroticising the event while Laura totally disagrees. This example of conflicting viewpoints is a foretaste of what is to come and not least when we find Ezequiel and Rafa each developing their own ideas about what caused Laura to leave so suddenly. At the same time it is possible for the viewer to conclude that she may have gone in quest of personal independence, a possibility that neither of the men can envisage.
If this element underlines how easy it is for people not to understand one another in depth even when close, Trenque Laquen is also an intriguing illustration of how, whether or not through dissatisfaction with their daily existence, many people can become obsessives. Initially flashbacks show Laura as somebody attracted to orchids and committed in an extreme way to pursuing a species that has not yet been classified. But then she happens to find old love letters in a library book and to discover more about the lovers, a married man and a teacher named Carmen Zuna living in the 1960s, becomes a new obsession in which Ezequiel is caught up too. The film’s flashbacks incorporate this older love story (indeed in passing Parades and Pierri take on their roles) and this invites us to see how investigating this history together encourages Laura and Ezequiel to form more of a bond in a way that may echo it.
The distinct chapters offer different viewpoints and, while always clear, do not keep to chronological order (when the story of Carmen Zuna emerges there are even neat moments when we hear Laura and Ezequiel discussing her against images set in the 1960s). All of these aspects encourage the viewer to speculate throughout Part 1 which makes the film rewarding to anyone who enjoys responding in this way. But what makes the film so engaging is that what might have been material that came over as difficult and avant-garde is transformed by the sheer skill shown by Citarella and her editors who create and sustain a real sense of flow. I have rarely known such a long film achieve this so well and it is constant save for the fact that oddly Citarella opts to start both parts as though we are in the middle of things. In each case what is being said consists of comments that for a minute or two make little sense to us. But happily everything then falls into place and we are off.
Although Part 2 continues the story it becomes rather different in character and is eventually dominated by the longest of the twelve chapters, one entitled 'Elisa Esperanza’. Elisa (Elisa Carricajo) is a new character here, a scientist, and the early scenes involving her and later introducing her partner Romina (Véronica Llinás) work well as Laura is drawn to them. The difficulty of deciding whether or not their bond involves another romantic triangle this time of a lesbian nature fits in with the open questions about motivation encouraged earlier. But this development becomes centred to a marked degree on a creature of some kind found in the local lake. Initially referred to as an apparition that is like a child but then regarded as an alien animal of some kind, it might seem at first that it simply represents another illustration of an obsession, this one based on people who form a belief in alien life in the universe. But as the story proceeds we find that, although the narrative is presented throughout in terms that are realistic rather than with any sense of the supernatural, we are now being asked to believe in the reality of this creature which eventually claims a dominant role in the story. Here – and only here – the storytelling flow falters, partly because this section seems overextended and partly because this element never persuaded me as something that properly belongs here.
What never falls away is the splendid use of music on the soundtrack, some of it an original score but also incorporating Chopin and other classics. Also fine throughout is the persuasive acting of all the leading actors. Part 1 offers no resolution but neither does Part 2 so, however inconclusive Part 1 may seem, it is worth seeing on its own – it might even lure you into watching Part 2 which you might or might not find more effective than I did. What Trenque Lauquen as a whole does do is to come full circle: having opened with an echo of L'Avventura it concludes with an enigmatic final scene in which a striking camera movement is used to create a situation in which what has happened is wrapped in mystery. What is recalled here is again Antonioni since the end of Trenque Lauquen is surely indebted to the 1975 film The Passenger.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Laura Parades, Ezequiel Pierri, Rafael Spregelburd, Elisa Carricajo, Juliana Muras, Cecilia Rainero, Véronica Llinás, Rodrigo Parades, Walter Jakob, Daniela Pal, Diego Tiseira, Eugenia Campos Guevara.
Dir Laura Citarella, Pro Ingrid Pokropek, Screenplay Laura Citarella and Laura Parades, Ph Agustin Mendilaharzu, Ines Duacastella and Yarara Rodriguez, Art Dir Florencia Caligiuri and Laura Caligiuri, Ed Miguel de Zuviría and Alejo Moguillansky, Music Gabriel Chwojnis, Costumes Flora Caligiuri.
El Pampero Cine/Grandfilm-Bulldog Film Distribution.
260 mins. Argentina/Germany. 2022. US Rel: 21 April 2023. UK Rel: 8 December 2023. No Cert.
