In Punta del Este, Uruguay, where he works as pool boy at a hotel swimming pool, Francisco falls in love with Jimena, a daughter of the Argentinian upper class.

In her, he sees a way out of mediocrity. In him, she sees an integrity that her people lack. Their love story unfurls in the softness of summer when the contradictions of this region are at their height: money, poverty, corruption and the joys of living. Francisco also has to deal with the ap­proaches of a popular singer, Zulema Guarini. This sensual and vivacious wo­man lives in a world where everything is for sale, and she tries to turn him into her gigolo. It is to her that he turns when his (raped) sister needs money for an illegal abortion. Francisco's betrayal is double: first he betrays his origins with his love for Jimena; then his love for Jimena to save his sister. In a world in which all clear sense of direction has become confused, has he lost his way? He who respects his desires is keeping a secret.

In the softness of summer, Punta del Este subtly hides the real war of the modern world, the war of values. Here, casinos, luxury hotels and opulent houses stand just a few minutes from the austere and humble town of San Carlos. Thirty storey apartment blocks slice vertically through the wild, long stretches of beach. I want to show the contrast between one culture; kitsch, flamboyant, from another century, but noble and true, and ano­ther, of sophisticated wealth - between quiet modesty and eccentricity, the wildness of nature and tamed spaces, between the sensuality of summer and the harshness of extreme poverty. Which still holds life's values? Here was where I spent most of my childhood and teenage holidays. I came back later to work in the restaurants and hotels.

There are luminous mornings here, when childhood is king and where life's possibles are prepared.