[1] It was selected as the second greatest Argentine film of all time in a poll conducted by the Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken in 1984, while it ranked 3rd in the 2000 edition.

An army- and judge-led mediation attempt commissioned by President Yrigoyen and led by Lieutenant Coronel Zavala condemns police partiality and the exploitative nature of the company store system.

With workers planning another strike to enforce the terms of the agreement, employers, backed by Chile and Britain, successfully force the government to round up union leaders and militants.

Zavala is told of the continuing unrest despite his efforts, that he workers had not upheld their bargain by disarming, and to "Think of Chile" implying a threat to their borders, and is ordered to restore order in such a way as to permanently remove the threat of rebellion due to socialist or anarchist ideas, which they do by using acting in force, opening fire on strikers without warning, surprising the strikers who had held him in high regard for settling the earlier dispute in their favor.

Following this initial fight and others using similar tactics Zavala begins carrying out summary executions, especially of the leaders and even of delegations acting under a flag of truce, some of whom are made to dig their own graves.

The film ends with oligarchs congratulating the lieutenant colonel in charge of the massacre during a celebration and singing For He's a Jolly Good Fellow in English.