Paño verde


Paño verde is a 1973 Argentina gangster film drama directed by Mario David. The film, based on a 1955 novel of the same name by Roger Plá, is set in Buenos Aires in the 1940s, covering the formation, rise and fall of a criminal gang. It stars Carlos Estrada as the protagonist mafia boss, Miguel Acuña, Luis Brandoni, Julia von Grolman and Héctor Alterio. Víctor Proncet composed the soundtracks.

Plot

In 1940s Buenos Aires, the laconic, immaculately dressed Miguel Acuña, or "El Púa" leads a double life. He owns a bar and appears apathetic to the customers, but is secretly a violent criminal. He murders the local mafia boss after threatening him with a knife and shoots him dead when he reacts with a gun. He throws the knife in the river. Miguel becomes the leader.
The gang pulls off a series of robberies. At one robbery by the docks, they shoot several people dead, including several of the guards and a man in a car, which they use as the getaway vehicle after the tires are shot out on their vehicle. In the next robbery, Miguel accidentally shoots a young boy dead while shooting at the guards. His guilt is only revealed when he overhears customers at the bar talking about his death, forcing him to walk out in awkward silence.
While planning a bigger caper, Alma, the wife of his associate Américo, falls in love with Miguel. Miguel reluctantly relents to her advances but proceeds to beat her, despite professing his love for her. Tano, one of the gang members, is reluctant to participate in the imminent big bank robbery and is threatened by Miguel. During the robbery, when Tano's worries come to fruition and he is shot by one of the guards, rather than save him, Miguel shoots him dead while making their escape. The getaway vehicle catches fire, but the men escape.
The police invade Américo and Alma's flat while Américo is in the bathroom shaving. Américo pretends to surrender but turns on an officer, holding his razor blade to his throat, but is shot dead in front of his wife as backup officers arrive. The police arrive at the bar and surround Miguel. Miguel manages to escape, but only by ruthlessly shooting a female admirer and an old friend to buy himself time to escape. He is eventually shot on the roof and falls to his death through the skylight onto the bar's pool table, much to the shock of the bartender, who had never suspected his wicked ways.

Cast

Production

The screenplay was written by the director Mario David, based on the 1955 novel of the same name by Roger Plá. Cinematographer Arsenio Reinaldo Pica was hired to shoot the film, working with cameraman Roberto Matarrese. Víctor Proncet composed the soundtrack, while the editing was done by Oscar Pariso.

Reception

The film premiered on 1 March 1973 in Buenos Aires. It was well received by the critics, with Edmundo Etchelbaum of La Opinión declaring it to be a "Revelation of a good commercial film director" and La Razón stating that the film has "good technical quality and a group of excellent actors". Clarín though was more favorable to the cinematography, opining that the "camera extracts much more and is so much better than some of the passages of dialogue", which they believed cooled the effectiveness of certain scenes. In his book Breve historia del cine argentino, César Maranghello states that he believes Paño verde to have been David's best picture, praising the "fury and nostalgia of its protagonist", Carlos Estrada.