Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Trenque Lauquen Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 28, 2024

Trenque Lauquen is the kind of film that the inimitable William Goldman might have called a "critics' darling". That might sound like it's a good thing, but Goldman excoriated critics' darlings, albeit vis a vis the Broadway variety, in his excellent if controversial deconstruction of the Great White Way, The Season. At over four hours in length (still dwarfed by the over thirteen hour running time of La Flor, which was co-produced by this film's co-writer and director Laura Citarella), and with a storyline that is deliberately enigmatic to the point of being opaque, Trenque Lauquen might invite a superior attitude from some who think they're "getting" what some lower life form (like another audience member) just doesn't quite have the intellectual power to grasp. But here's the thing: you actually don't need to "understand" Trenque Lauquen to revel in its almost mystical "road trip" which ends up being the cinematic equivalent of that old maxim "the journey is more important than the destination". This is, yes, a very lengthy and at times "relaxed" narrative, built around a mystery that is intentionally never really solved, and so for those wanting a traditional three act screenplay where every loose thread is neatly tied up by the closing credits, this admittedly may not be the film for you. But for those willing to "go with the flow" and experience a really fascinatingly specific kind of outing, Trenque Lauquen may provide unexpected dividends.

There's actually a trifecta, and possibly a quartet or even a quintet (depending upon how you count things), of "Laura"s running through this film. As mentioned above this was co-written and directed by Laura Citarella, and the film stars Laura Parades as an enigmatic missing woman named Laura. That fact may instantly ignite some film fans' cinematic and/or television "spidey sense", and as some supplementary material on Disc Two of this two disc set gets into, therefore remind some of Laura, or another "missing" character with that name who was initially at least at the center of Twin Peaks. Those references aside, there's little doubt that this discursive, opaque and kind of dreamlike at times film is much closer to David Lynch in spirit than Otto Preminger. There may even be a sixth "Laura" kind of lurking in the background, since some of the supplements mention how Parades has evidently played other "versions" of this character in other films (including Ostende), though I frankly haven't seen any of them, and I'm not sure even seeing them would help divine some of the intentional narrative ambiguities Trenque Lauquen repeatedly offers.

That "repeatedly" is a central presentational conceit here, since the disjunctive, at least intermittently non linear, storytelling style features "callbacks" and/or actual returns to previously seen vignettes and/or moments, though I frankly wouldn't argue that any of these recurrences are "revelatory" the way they might be in a more traditionally structured film. Instead, the emphasis is on two men (Ezequiel Pierri and Rafael Spregelburd, both playing eponymous characters, which may at least subliminally hint at a cinéma vérité ambience) attempting to find missing Laura, a tenuous "through line" that ultimately kind of unravels into depictions of their relationships with Laura. That then takes a completely gonzo turn in the film's second half that has elements of a monster movie (and, no, I'm not kidding), albeit again not in the "traditional" sense.

Trenque Lauquen's deliberate pace and refusal to provide "paint by numbers" answers reminded me rather strongly of Antonioni efforts, probably most specifically of L'Avventura, as may be obvious given some of the above information. That said, Trenque Lauquen is definitely sui generis, and is at the very least kind of weirdly provocative, given how almost willfully stubborn the film is to provide ultimate answers.

Trenque Lauquen Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Trenque Lauquen is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Radiance sent check discs for the purposes of this review, and so I'm not privy to any verbiage that might be included in an insert booklet, but their website offers "High Definition digital transfer, approved by director and co-screenwriter Laura Citarella" as a bullet list description. As of the writing of this review, the IMDb doesn't really offer any substantial technical information. This is a somewhat heterogenous looking presentation, which I have to feel is at least partly by design. The entire transfer can intermittently have a somewhat "video"-esque look to it, something that is amplified once the story takes a bizarre left turn in Part II, but even sections of Part I have a similar somewhat sharpened looking digital appearance. All of this said, detail levels are appealing and the frequent use of close-ups aids fine detail throughout. The palette looks rather interesting at times, and I suspect some subtle grading choices have been introduced. Some of the "on the road" search material has a somewhat cool blue look but other moments, like extended flashbacks featuring Laura and Ezequiel have a kind of slightly alien yellow-green quality. There are some very short passing low light moments that can look slightly noisy.

Trenque Lauquen Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Trenque Lauquen has a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 that provides noticeable immersion in both the interstitial "on the road" sequences, as well as a number of outdoor scenes in Part I in particular. But even some of the group scenes in both parts can offer audible spill into the side and rear channels, helping to establish directionality and basic background clamor. A rather interesting score by Gabriel Chwojnik does its own "morphing" that kind of echoes the somewhat gonzo transition in Part II, but the entire presentation ably engages the surround channels and often provides a bed of evocative accompaniment. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Trenque Lauquen Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: All of the following supplements are on Disc Two of this two disc release. Disc One features both parts of the feature film without any additional supplements.

• David Jenkins (HD; 11:09) is an interesting piece featuring the editor of Little White Lies (the website, not the film) getting into some of the "Laura" referents, what is called Trenque Lauquen's "literary structure", and some of the techniques utilizes by the kind of cinematic cooperative Citarella belongs to known as El Pampero Cine.


• Laura Paredes (HD; 13:18) features the co-writer and star of Trenque Lauquen discussing the "evolution" of the character of Laura from previous films. She also gets into her hopes for the Argentinian film industry. Subtitled in English.


• Ezequiel Pierri (HD; 14:22) features the actor discussing his initiation into this "career" with this film, and some of the rigors of the insanely long shoot. Subtitled in English.


• Laura Citarella (HD; 43:56) offers more information on the making of the film, but also provides some interesting background on the El Pampero Cine collective and its aims for Argentinian cinema. This is moderated by Chaiers du Cinema editor Marco Uzal. Subtitled in English.


• Eiko Ishibashi x Laura Citarella (HD; 12:09) is a kind of verite short that is described as "one of 25 films commissioned for Film Fest Gent's golden anniversary in 2023". The description fascinatingly goes on to relate that 25 composers were paired with 25 filmmakers, and this collaboration features music by Ishibashi accompanying another "tour" of sorts of Trenque Lauquen while also incorporating what looks like footage of a screening of the film. Subtitled (in parts) in English.


• Galleries were provided by Laura Citarella from her personal archive:

  Radio Station

  
  

  The 'Creature Room'

• Trailer (HD; 1:38)

Radiance sent check discs for the purposes of this review, but their website lists a reversible sleeve and insert booklet, as well as their usual Obi strip.

Trenque Lauquen Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a great old Bob Seger songs that references "workin' on mysteries without any clues". Trenque Lauquen virtually wallows in "clues" for at least its first half, with a kind of fun detective story at least tangentially related to "lost" letters, but the real mystery of what happens to Laura may remain unanswered. This is a fascinating film with an absolutely amazing backstory, as is discussed in some of the really appealing supplements. These discs are region free, and while it looks like there's a Region A release from Cinema Guild that came out a while ago, if our database is correct, it's only one disc, which suggests to me there aren't many if any supplements accompanying that version. Technical merits are solid, and Trenque Lacquen comes Recommended.