AllMovie

In this amazing and complex Argentine historical drama, much of the true story of the 19th-century assassin Juan Moreira comes to the screen. At the time of its release, this Argentine film was the most popular locally made film ever to be shown there. Juan Moreira was a popular folk hero on a par with Billy the Kid in the U.S., and many stories and songs have been written about him over the years. In the movie, the innocent herdsman Moreira (Rodolfo Beban) is thrown into jail at the behest of an important cattle-baron. He emerges from jail a changed man. After killing the cattleman who had him sent to jail, he at first hides among a tribe of native peoples then moves into a brothel. Fueled by drink, he kills a man whom he did not know. Because the victim was an important politician, politicians from an opposing faction hire Moreira to work for them as an assassin. When that faction fails to deliver on the promise of an amnesty for him, he starts working for the other side. This continues until the two groups of politicians temporarily make peace, which proves fatal for Juan Moreira.