An immense shootout that took place in a desert during the Bolivian military dictatorship in the 1970s forms the backround for this gritty black and white film. Tonio’s parents disappear following the melee, and he returns to his hometown Tajira, located in Southern Bolivia. His uncle and godfather Mario can no longer talk or walk, and his cousin and first love Ana is mother to a 9 year old boy. This film was a great hit in Bolivia this year, and it memorable because of the way the lyrical pictures accumulate in silence, all to explode in the latter half of the movie. It shows in extremely detailed and slow rhythm the effects of the military dictatorship on one family. Political criticism is not the core of the movie. It is rather centered on showing the inner personality of the main character through visual metaphors, sound effects, and detailed structure of each frame. The fact that the first words of the movie are not uttered until 15 minutes after it starts, and that long takes are prevalent throughout the movie, also seem to be intended to place mood before narration. ‘Los Viejos’ translates as ‘old people’. (RHEE, Soue-won)