New Port: A look at the dirt and the dreamers

Is it worth your time?

If you have a thing for black-and-white era pieces or just want to see how Argentine cinema looked before the glitz took over, go for it. But if you’re looking for a breezy Saturday night watch, keep walking. This is for the folks who like their movies to leave a little bit of grit under their fingernails.

People who get annoyed by slow, deliberate pacing might find themselves checking their phones. But honestly? The way it looks at Villa Desocupación is something you don't really get in films like Scars of Love or the lighter fare of that time.

The weight of the 1930s

The film doesn't hide the rot. It shows the Infamous Decade not as a headline, but as a place where people actually had to live. It feels surprisingly grounded for a film from that era. You can practically smell the dust rising from the ground in those scenes.

It reminds me a bit of the social tension you see in The Poverty of Riches, though the tone here is much more desperate. There's this one shot of a doorway that stays on screen just long enough to feel like a gut punch. It doesn’t tell you how to feel, which I appreciate. 🏚️

Odd moments and observations

• The lighting in the shantytown scenes is surprisingly harsh. It isn't trying to be pretty.
• Some of the dialogue hits like a brick, then the next line just kind of floats away into nothing.
• The transition between the city life and the slums is jarring, almost like two different movies glued together.
• There’s a background character in the third act who seems to be doing laundry for an eternity. I think I watched them for a solid minute while the main actors were arguing.

It’s not as polished as The Garden of Eden, but that’s exactly why it works. It doesn’t feel like it was made in a vacuum. It feels like a report from the front lines of an economic mess.

Don't expect a neat ending. Life in the thirties wasn't neat, and the movie doesn't bother pretending otherwise. Sometimes it feels like it just stops because it ran out of film, or maybe because there was nothing left to say. 🎬

It's definitely not for everyone. If you’re a completionist for 1930s cinema, you’ll find plenty to chew on. If not, it’s still a hell of a time capsule.