'Sí, señor, yo vivo aquí'

ADRIANA LAURA MASSIDDA

World Film Locations: Buenos Aires

Intellect Books

Lugar: Bristol; Año: 2014; p. 26 - 27

Entrada sobre  BuenosAires (David Kohon, 1958; cortometraje). Locación final, genérica:In this lucid critique of the modern city Kohon playswith a counterpoint between the developed, machine-like city centre of BuenosAires and the homeplace of those who prop it up and produce it - theshantytowns. The late 1950s was a moment in which development, embodied bymodern architecture and international investment, was expected to solve thepressing housing shortage of Argentina. However, Kohon?s Buenos Aires is aManichean world in which it becomes clear that housing is still a greatproblem. An advertisement for middle-class apartments - of a type thatpopulated the newspapers of the time - is used to emphasize how the fruits ofsuch celebrated development were shared in a painfully unequal way. Byunderlining the habitation conditions of workers, Kohon takes a strong positionin a key debate in Argentina, in which shantytown residents were seen asindolent by some groups and accused of ?immorality? . The film acutelychallenges this assertion through its used of a leaflet containing official´moral´ propaganda. ?Sí, señor, yo vivo aquí? (?Yes, sir, I live here?) is theonly dialogue in this short film, repeatedly declared by three workers whosedaily routine the film depicts; this statament heavily condenses Kohon?scritique. The words are intercut with images of a heavily-graffitied wall,bearing the names of election candidates, being white-washed. In a contextwhere the the gap between poor and weathy was widening, and where the mostpopular political party (Peronism) was proscribed from competing in elections,the painting-over may call into question the legitimacy of the advertisedcandidates.