El Perro - Plot

Plot

Coco (Juan Villegas), the main character, is first seen trying to sell knives to a group of oil workers. He is a skilled craftsman, but the knives are too expensive for them. In fact, throughout the entire film, he never manages to sell a single knife, but he ends up giving two away: one to a security guard as a bribe, and one to a cabaret singer he meets on his journey.

It is apparent that Coco is down on his luck. He lives in a cramped apartment with his daughter and her children. As he is 52 years old, it looks increasingly unlikely that he will get another job. What he really wants is to work in a gas station, and during the first part of the film he is seen inquiring after such jobs.

Coco is a good natured man, despite his ill luck, and he's seen helping a woman on the road whose car has broken down. This good deed leads to him being given an Argentine Dogo as a gift. The dog is a pedigree and the woman supplies him with all the documents. Coco is totally bemused, but keeps the dog.

When he goes home, his daughter asks him to choose—her or the dog. He chooses to keep the dog. The film now becomes a road movie. Coco calls the dog "Lechien" mistakenly believing that this is his name, in fact it simply means "the dog" in French and was written on his kennel. Eventually Coco realizes the dog is called "Bombón."

From the moment he takes the dog, Coco's luck begins to change. People ask him to guard buildings with the dog; a chance meeting with the bank manager leads him to Walter, a trainer. Walter assures him that the dog is pure gold. After the dog wins third prize at a dog show an eager Walter begins to make arrangements to have him put out to stud, this promises to be lucrative for them both, but the unfortunate dog is unable to perform.

Disillusioned, Walter takes the dog back to his ranch, and advises Coco to get settled somewhere and return for the dog later on.

But Coco feels lost without the dog, and returns to Walter's only to find the dog has escaped. Upon finding the dog again, coupling with a stray female mutt, Coco sets off into a hopeful future with two young hitchhikers in tow.