“Jauja is the first time that Alonso has collaborated with a writer and with an internationally recognized star. Both were crucial factors in enabling him to venture into new territory, resulting in his most important film to date. Jauja gives new meaning to Alonso’s past work, proving that his poetics isn’t necessarily tied to the use of non-actors, non-verbal performances, and minimalism. But the participation of Argentine poet and novelist Fabián Casas, actor Viggo Mortensen, and longtime Aki Kaurismäki cameraman Timo Salminen doesn’t merely imply higher production values—it also suggests a combined effort in which literary values, professional performances, and high-quality visuals fuse with and modify Alonso’s approach… Jauja is a radical confirmation of and commentary on what’s at stake for Alonso. For him, cinema is a kind of bridge between a civilized modern world and an alternate primitive and barbaric world to which the former feels drawn and watches with fascination… In Jauja, the levels of estrangement become mixed up and confused, and that’s what accounts for the film’s singular tone.” (Quintín)

Spanish spoken, English subtitles