Imagine a film which consists mostly of the soft-focus close-ups accompanied by lovely music found in giallos, and you have an idea of Nazareno Cruz and the Wolf. The most successful Argentine film of all time, Nazareno Cruz and the Wolf is about a young farmer who lives in a remote mountainous village. Nazareno's six other siblings and father died tragically before his birth, and as the seventh child he is cursed with lycanthropy. However, the years pass, and Nazareno never turns into a wolf. But when he falls in love with the beautiful Griselda, he is visited by Satan, who informs him that his new passion will trigger the monstrous transformation; his only way out is to renounce his love for Griselda and accept Satan's bounties of treasure. Nazareno refuses, and soon it begins; when the villagers discover that he is indeed a werewolf, his friends turn against him and begin to hunt him down. Leonardo Favio is one of Argentina's most respected filmmakers, despite having made only nine films over the past four decades. Shooting in rich colors and soft-focus, Favio conjures up a luscious and erotic dreamworld. The costumes and colors fly by in a magnificent pageantry, much in the tradition of films like Valerie and Her Week of Wonders. There is also a homosexual subtext involving the relationship between Nazareno and Satan. However, Favio pushes it beyond ridiculous in this film; it goes further than silly and amusing, and really cannot be taken seriously. This is surely a beautiful film at times, but there is a limit to such shenanigans. But it is worth watching, if just for the gorgeous aesthetics, but do not expect a masterpiece.
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