The Argentinian Lisandro Alonso, with the poet Fabian Casas, wrote a story about ‘Jauja’, an earthly paradise sought in vain for centuries because everyone who looked for it got lost on the way. In this case, it’s about the Danish captain/fortune hunter Dinessen (Danish-born, reluctant Hollywood star Viggo Mortensen) who, at the end of the 19th century, joined the Argentine infantry with his 14-year-old daughter Inge. When she runs off with a young soldier, Dinessen endlessly roams the pampas of Patagonia on the trail of a very thin dog.
The stunningly photographed Jauja is both incomparable and intriguing. It’s no surprise that Mortensen, who also produced this ‘road movie’ and made the music, describes Alonso as a contemporary Tarkovsky.
Jauja, shot in 4:3 and co-produced by the Dutch Ilse Hughan, received the film critics’ best film award for the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Festival.
Film details
- Countries of production
- Argentina, Denmark, Mexico, Netherlands
- Year
- 2014
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2015
- Length
- 108'
- Medium/Format
- DCP
