Forms of Excess. "El acto en cuestión" (Alejandro Agresti, 1993) and the Theatre of Ricardo Bartís

Abstract

This article analyzes comparatively some key contact points between the film El acto en cuestión (Alejandro Agresti, 1993) and the proposals of the theater of resistance, particularly considering the play Postales argentinas (Ricardo Bartís, 1988). It will seek to demonstrate that both directors share the same logic of excess that governs their creations. This logic can be identified in their appeal to elements of popular Argentine culture, their predilection for the superposition of fragments and their explicit connection with Roberto Arlt’s literature. The central hypothesis assumes that the use of these resources allows both artists to establish a confrontation with the dominant cinematic and theatrical forms, as well as it brings them together on the basis of the existence of a spirit of times.