the 2000 edition. In a new version of the survey organized in 2022 by the specialized magazines La vida util, Taipei and La tierra quema, presented at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival, the film reached the 49 position. Plot Prologue The film begins with a prologue on screen providing the historical circumstances of the place and time in which the action is placed, and advancing the position of its authors. From 1814 to 1818, General Martín Miguel de Güemes and his gauchos resisted the Spanish royalist armies that systematically ransacked the country, attacking Argentina's Northwest from the Spanish base in Alto Peru since the withdrawal of the country's regular troops. This conflict consisted in Guerrilla warfare movements designed by Güemes and constant small battles characterized by the heroism of the irregular patriot forces commanded by Güemes. The opening states: Summary 1817: in Argentina's Salta Province, during the War of Independence, the irregular gaucho forces commanded by General Martín Miguel de Güemes carry out a series of guerrilla actions against the Spanish Royalist Army. The commander of a Spanish army contingent, Lieutenant Villarreal, is wounded, captured by the guerrillas, and put under the medical care of Asunción, the mistress of an estancia. Asunción finds out from Villarreal's idenfication papers that the Lieutenant, though serving in the Spanish army, was born in Lima (Peru). She persuades him in understanding the importance and true justice of liberating America from Spain's colonial rule. The patriot forces receive help from the Sacristan of a chapel located next to the grounds of the royalist troops. The sacristan fakes loyalty to the Spanish king, but in the midsts of the battles he sends messages to the gaucho guerrillas hiding in the mountains by means of a messenger boy and by the ringing of a bell. When the royalists discover this, they attack and burn the chapel and smash the sacristan's eyes. Blinded, the sacristan unwittingly guides the royalists to the patriot camp. The royalists then proceed to annihilate the gauchos. After the battle, the only four survivors are the dying sacristan, an old man, a young boy, and Lieutenant Villarreal, who has fallen in love with Asunción and converted to the patriot cause. Though the group seems doomed, they suddenly see Güemes' arriving troops, which will continue the battle against the invader troops. Cast Enrique Muiño as Sacristán Lucero. Francisco Petrone (Francisco Antonio Petrecca Mesulla)