AllMovie

In a trenchant and well-acted exposition of the effects of corruption on a small barrio, Argentine director Fernando Ayala has personalized the problems in this one neighborhood and at the same time, implied that its issues embrace the nation at large. Troubles start for Luis (Federico Luppi), a family man devoted to supporting his wife, son, and daughters, when a work crew arrives on their street to start digging to lay pipes for running water. But the new service is for only one half of the street, the other half lies in the wrong county. Soon the neighbors on the wrong side of the street are banding together to bribe the laborers to run illicit pipes to their homes as well, except that Luis cannot in all clear conscience join them. When he adamantly refuses to participate in the bribe scheme, everyone turns against him, even those in his own family. Reluctantly, he caves in to their pressure and goes to negotiate with the supervisor in charge of the pipeline work. Unfortunately, he is mistreated and the two get into a fight. It does not take long for policemen to arrive and needless to say, only one man is the guilty party here in the eyes of the law.