Encina's reductionist approach is driven home in a 15-minute opening sequence, which is basically a fixed frame of an old man and woman emerging from the forest in long shot, stretching a hammock between two trees and sitting on it. Their nonstop bickering eventually reveals that the country is at war and they have not heard from their soldier son in a very long time. The mother seems resigned to his being dead; the father insists on keeping hope alive. Their waiting for something to happen becomes the viewer's cross to bear as well. Little else transpires in this short feature, which uses a bare minimum of sets and camera set-ups to underline the monotony and despair of the old couple's lives. Source: Young, Deborah. Review of Paraguayan Hammock (Hamaca paraguaya), by Paz Encina. Daily Variety, 18 May 2006.
