Eduardo Crespo’s sensitive documentary follows a cohort of boys at an Argentina agro-technical boarding school called Las Delicias (The Delights), and makes magic out of the mundane. On the surface, the students’ day-to-day rituals in the countryside appear quite ordinary. After getting up from their bunk beds, they go to classes or tend the crops on campus. In their downtime, they play video games or hang out with their peers. And yet, it is these quiet moments of adolescent togetherness that are the most revelatory. Here is a film about the unseen intimacies between boys, and how they learn to interact with the world at large.
Many of the pupils come to Las Delicias with an interest in agriculture, while others are looking for rehabilitation after being expelled from other schools. Like a friend, the camera stays close to the youngsters, but doesn’t dwell extensively on any single individual, lingering instead on vignettes of growing pains and childlike wonder. One moment, a boy frets in the doctor’s office about a sore throat; the next we see another pupil sweetly looking after a fallen bird. The recurring mention of a missing phone along with the teachers’ gentle pleas for the responsible party to step forward also lends the piece a dose of drama – with a very moving conclusion.
Perhaps due to its 65-minute runtime, Crespo’s film barely digs into how Las Delicias operates as a school. For instance, we occasionally see female students on school grounds, yet it remains unclear if this institution is co-ed. Nevertheless, the depiction of boys’ inner lives remains a striking one. As one crop of pupils graduates, a new group arrives, a touching bookend that embodies the circular nature of youth itself.
• The Delights is on True Story from 1 November.
