Prisoners of the Earth
The most acclaimed film by one of classic Argentine cinema’s foremost directors is a gut-punching work of social realism: a group of desperate men are conscripted to labor on a treacherous plantation—a situation that boils over in an explosive act of rebellion.
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Sunday, May 17, 2026
- Limited Availability
- On Standby
- Matinee
Cinephiles celebrate 1939 as one of Hollywood's greatest years. However, such cinematic excellence was not limited to the USA. In Argentina, the country's burgeoning film industry reached both a commercial and artistic high point with Prisoners of the Earth. Director Mario Soffici, one of the country's foremost filmmakers, combined social realism, classic melodrama, and shadowy expressionist visuals to create a scathing indictment against economic exploitation. Set in 1915, the film follows a group of mensús, desperate and disenfranchised men who agree to become indentured laborers, conscripted to work on a treacherous, disease-ridden yerba maté plantation, deep within the sweltering jungle. Cut off from all civilization, the men face brutal conditions under the ruthless Köhner, the plantation's German owner, and his band of sadistic overseers. Tempers simmer as a love triangle develops between Esteban Podeley, one of the mensú leaders, Köhner, and Andrea, the sweet-spirited daughter of the camp's alcoholic doctor. When Köhner overplays his hand, the plantation's suffocating atmosphere bursts into a tropical storm of retribution. Upon the film's initial release, the great Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges offered high praise, "it is superior to all others that have come out [of] our resigned republic… [and] to most of those sent to us from Paris and California."
—Dan Doody
- Original Language Title: Prisioneros de la tierra
- Director: Mario Soffici
- Principal Cast: Francisco Petrone, Angel Magana, Roberto Fugazot, Homero Carpena, Raul De Lange, Elisa Galve, Agustin Barboza
- Country: Argentina
- Year: 1939
- Running Time: 86 min.
- Producer: Mario Soffici
- Screenplay: Horacio Quiroga, Dario Quiroga, Ulises Petit de Murat
- Cinematographers: Pablo Tabernero
- Editors: Jose de Nico, Gerardo Rinaldi
- Music: Lucio Demare
- Website: Official Film Website
- Filmography: Propiedad (1962), Chafalonias (1960), Isla brava (1958), Rosaura a las 10 (1958), Oro bajo (1956), El Curandero (1955), El hombre que debia una muerte (1955), Barrio gris (1954), Mujeres casadas (1954), La Dama del mar (1954), Una ventana a la vida (1953), Ellos nos hicieron asi (1953), Paso en mi barrio (1951), The Unwanted (1951), El extrano caso del hombre y la bestia (1951), La barca sin pescador (1950), Tierra del Fuego (1948), La Secta del trebol (1948), La gata (1947), The Sin of Julia (1946), Celos (1946), La prodiga (1945), Besos perdidos (1945), The Circus Cavalcade (1945), Wake Up to Life (1945), Tres hombres del rio (1943), Cuando la primavera se equivoca (1942), Vacaciones en el otro mundo (1942), El camino de las llamas (1942), Yo quiero morir contigo (1941), Cita en la frontera 1940), Heroes sin fama (1940), Prisioneros de la tierra (1939), El viejo doctor (1939), Kilometro 111 (1938), Viento Norte (1937), Cadetes de San Martin (1937), New Port (1936), La barra mendocina (1935), El alma del bandoneon (1935), Noche federal (1932)
- Language: Spanish, Guaraní
- Has Subtitles: Yes
- US Distributor: Janus Films