Exploring Corrientes Through Carnival and Spy Cinema

Every February to early March, in the heart of summer, the northern Argentine city of Corrientes hosts a grand carnival. Dazzling feathered costumes, bizarrely shaped parade floats, and horse-drawn carriages, all accompanied by the rhythmic beats of Chamamé bands, proudly parade through the streets on 10 different nights. These festivities take place in various corners of the city and surrounding towns, showcasing the beauty and flair of each participant.

I visited this seemingly unremarkable small city during my trip to Mesopotamia (comprising the provinces of Misiones, Corrientes, and Entre Ríos) in late November last year. As I was writing an extended travel essay about the trip, I discovered that the famous British spy novelist Graham Greene had written a book titled "The Honorary Consul," the story of which is set entirely in the provincial capital of Corrientes, which shares its name with the province.

In Spanish, "corrientes" means currents. Spanish colonists founded the city on the Paraná River in the late 16th century and named it "San Juan de Vera de las Siete Corrientes," before it was later shortened to "Corrientes." The name refers to the seven peninsulas along the riverbank, which produce seven wild currents that make navigation difficult.

After a more-than-five-hour bus ride from Posadas, I arrived in Corrientes close to midnight. Exhausted and hungry, I called an Uber to take me to the hotel I'd booked. The driver blasted my least favorite Cumbia music—a genre originating from Colombia and, by the 21st century, fused with Argentine pop music into a lively dance tune. At that moment, I really wanted to smack the driver. Even if the Columbian queen of pop Shakira, an icon of Cumbia who just won a Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album, were sitting next to me in the backseat, I'd probably want to kick her out of the car too. I desperately needed a hearty meal and a chance to cleanse my ears with local music.

Fortunately, Argentina is known for dining late, so after checking in, I followed the receptionist's directions, turned left, and walked along Junín Street toward Sargento Cabral Plaza in search of food and music. Indeed, the city boasts Chamamé music, which is listed as Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. Chamamé is a unique blend of Jesuit string music, songs from German immigrant communities along the Volga River, Scottish folk tunes, and traditional Guarani melodies. It sounds very eclectic, and in Guarani, it even means chaotic or party. A Chamamé restaurant offering both food and music seemed like my best chance of salvation.

Such a restaurant did exist, right at the corner of Junín Street where the pedestrian zone meets the roadway. However, a simple poster on its door clearly stated that Chamamé performances were only held three times in November, and tonight wasn't one of them. So, I didn't note down the restaurant's name. Clearly, Chamamé isn't as ingrained in everyday life as tango, Argentina's national treasure, or Peña, which represents gaucho culture. Feeling disappointed, I headed to Esteros Resto & Café on the southwest side of Sargento Cabral Plaza. There, I was resurrected by a generous portion of beef tendon stew which was confidently recommended by the waiter. Recalling the previous day's charcoal-grilled chicken in Posadas, I couldn't help but praise the food on all my social media apps: "Northeastern cuisine holding up Argentina's culinary scene!"

Across from the restaurant at one corner of the Plaza stands a temporary hut made of prefabricated panels. Its exterior is adorned with whimsical painting: a small boat drifts peacefully on the water with an angel wearing a headscarf helping raise its sail. Beneath the water, the year "1976" is written upside down, while the year "1983" hangs in the sky. This period marks Argentina's Dirty War, a time of extreme right-wing military dictatorship that created a vast number of disappearances. The headscarf-wearing angel clearly refers to the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, who've been searching for their lost grandchildren. Translated literally from Spanish to English, the graffiti on either side of the boat reads: "Doubts about your identity?" and "From doubt to certainty, there is an embrace." Could this be the work of an office that registers and conducts DNA matches to help reunite families?

While reading the Wikipedia entry for Corrientes in the restaurant, I discovered that the story of "The Honorary Consul" is set a few years before the start of Dirty War, since it was published in 1973. Greene had worked for MI6, and was more deeply involved in espionage than Ian Fleming. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 21 times but never won. This novel, like his other famous works such as "The Third Man," "The Quiet American," and "The End of the Affair," was later adapted into a film. Although it might not have had as much influence as some of those works, Greene maintained that "The Honorary Consul" was his best novel. The story revolves around a political kidnapping in Corrientes. There are two male protagonists. Eduardo Plarr, a British-born doctor who attempts to kidnap the visiting American ambassador to exchange him for his father, who's been arrested by Paraguayan authorities for organizing an armed rebellion, and Charles Fortnum, a British honorary consul who's mistakenly kidnapped instead. Their lives become even more entangled due to their shared relationship with a young woman named Clara.

In 1983, the film adaptation of "The Honorary Consul" was released, starring the famous Michael Caine and Richard Gere as the rival protagonists. The film is very faithful to the original novel, although perhaps due to the fact that it was filmed in 1983, near the end of the Dirty War and military dictatorship, the story's setting is subtly shifted from 1973 to a few years later, just on the eve of the Dirty War. The specific year is never mentioned, but military and police presence is visible on the streets of Corrientes in the film. However, it wasn't actually shot in Corrientes; instead, Mexico City and Veracruz were used to represent the Argentine city, with post-production completed at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England.

Still of "The Honorary Consul"

Although the film almost replicates the novel's plot, it fails to capture the subtle, hidden love present in the original. For the crucial scene of the accidental kidnapping, it doesn't use tense parallel montages to create dramatic intensity, but instead lets the clumsy and unfortunate revolutionary admit, when reprimanded by Eduardo, "Of course, we're amateurs. The dictators and the military police are the professionals."

Perhaps because Greene cherished his novel so deeply, he didn't approve of the film adaptation, stating, "I don't want to see Richard Gere undressing. [He] was completely and utterly miscast." The author had originally hoped that his friend Peter Duffell, who'd adapted another of his works, "England Made Me," would direct "The Honorary Consul," but the film eventually "was in the hands of a producer and a scriptwriter who didn't see eye to eye with [him]."

In the novel, Corrientes is depicted as a quiet, impoverished town located in the remote subtropical region, and the film conveys a similar visual impression. Indeed, at first glance, Corrientes resembles towns in Central America's hot, rainforest areas, where low buildings are connected by arcades. The humid heat of summer also means that many local hotels listed on booking platforms offer free breakfast and come with rooftop swimming pools. After waking up, I went up to the rooftop of my hotel, which turned out to be nothing more than a rudimentary inflatable mattress filled with water. Looking down, however, I could glimpse the city center, the only area with a bit of historical charm. Upon further research, I discovered that the few available attractions worth visiting, such as the Provincial History Museum, the Traditional Crafts Museum, and the Official Theater Juan de Vera, were either under renovation or closed on that day.

Perhaps, like the Chamamé performance I missed, the charm of this city truly needs the carnival to give it life. I believe that at this time, the Corsódromo Nolo Alías carnival avenue in the northeast and the Mario del Tránsito Cocomarola open-air theater in the south will shine as the most vibrant places in Argentina's midsummer.

The dates for this year's Corrientes Carnival are as follows:

• Saturday, February 1

• Friday, February 7

• Saturday, February 8

• Friday, February 14

• Saturday, February 15

• Friday, February 21

• Saturday, February 22

• Saturday, March 1

• Sunday, March 2

• Monday, March 3

Official carnival ticket sales channel:

https://norteticket.com/CARNAVAL-PROVINCIAL-DE-CORRIENTES-2025/