Leonardo Sbaraglia, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Pep Munné, Mercè Llorens, Martín Caloni , Pompeyo Audivert, Miguel Ángel Solá .

a Puta y la Ballena (The Whore and the Whale) is an Argentinean-Spanish co-production, set both in the present and in the 1930’s, taking place largely in Patagonia, but also in Buenos Ares and Madrid. It is, superficially at least, the tale of a Spanish writer who becomes intrigued by a letter and a set of photographs from the 1930s and at the behest of her editor travels to Buenos Ares to uncover the story behind the documents. One might say this is La Oficial Historia, - that being the title of a previous film by Argentine director Luis Puenzo, and one which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language feature in 1986.

La Puta y la Bellena is a film of paradoxes, mirrors, reflections and repetitions. A rare example of truly adult cinema, those with a taste for Borges, Roeg and Resnais will appreciate it as little short of a masterpiece. It is certainly by far the finest film of 2004. Yet so far it has only been released in Argentina and Spain. If it does not receive a wide international release with the same sort of fanfare as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, it will be a crime against cinema.