The accordion player agrees, since he is desperate for money, but the Spaniard is a harsh taskmaster, forcing the musician to play difficult tangos until his fingers ache before making him guzzle an entire bottle of vodka to earn his meager pay. This single act of humiliation triggers a series of events that drive the painful story forward, as told through a dozen separate vignettes comprised of very long takes. The accordion player strips naked and cries in a fountain. He challenges some young men to a game. He seeks out his girlfriend, who is having sex with another man.
Someone is murdered.
A woman runs half-naked through the streets. She is later gang-raped in a seedy bar, her bruised body dumped in a remote forest. Opens Friday at Facets Multimedia. No MPAA rating. Graphic sex, violence.