40 Years of Complete Isolation
Since 1965, Faustino Barrientos has lived alone on the shores lake O'Higgins' in a house built from the remains of a shipwrecked fishing vessel.
He's a pastoralist, living mostly off the land and his livestock, with few modern amenities.
His nearest neighbors are in Villa O'Higgins, a small community of several hundred people, 25 miles away, accessible only by a two-day horseback ride through rugged mountain animal paths. Every few years, Faustino makes this ride to sell his cattle in town.
Currently 81 years old, Faustino is reaching the end of his life, and his self-imposed isolation is being encroached upon by the forces of government, economy, and tourism.
VICE went to document his lifestyle and speak with him about the changing face of Patagonia and the gaucho lifestyle.
It is a beautiful place. I don't blame Faustino for having lived there all his life. He is more healthy than us people who are in the brink of political aspects, greediness, and a bad world. It is such a beautiful place to build a lovely cabin and come spend holidays away from the noise of the world.
For those of you who want to do this, go for it. You can get 20 acres in Alaska for about the price of a Honda Accord.
Good film, nice landscape, interesting, pleasant people.
the idea that anyone could try to criticize any one thing about this doc is very disturbing and reveals much about the degradation of humanity. i will post again after i observe the last 30 min.
Faustino... the real deal.
"water temperature is always -7 degrees celsius" ... not bad :p. anyway i'm impressed with his lifestyle, it takes a strong minded human to go through with all that and manage as well. Great doc as usual Vice.
What a guy....less is more. He doesn't need Obama care
I have a lot of respect and admiration for Faustino Barrientos.
Faustino was gracious and kind to his guest, despite the
condescending tone of the female narrator.
Señor Barrientos has lived his life his way and survived into his
80's. I think he's an amazing man.
He teaches us, that surviving with very little, making use of
what you have is possible.
This documentary was amazing. I kind of shed some tears at the end because I hate goodbyes, it's just so lonely and depressing.
Well, he's about to die and I hope he enjoyed his 40 years of loneliness.
He likes to talk and tell stories, he really loves someone's company.
t.t Farewell, grandpa...
Kurt is right. We live with so much, without ever believing that we need so little. Even if we took away almost everything we do on a daily basis (and use); every single one of us would need two earths just to survive. To bring that down to one... that is the real challenge.
well done, would be nice to see a folow up one day
He's lucky enough not to be enslaved to power structure bills like gas, electric, and gasoline and all that. To perhaps live life with creation & spiritually. Unlike how we survive the struggle of corruptness of a physical world as we are all controlled by it.
electricty bills are power structures, maybe, but ffs, the heater is a good thing. post-moderinty, you so need to getout of your funk
And so what?! We've all been isolated since the internet came along...
uhm, not really
cellphones more so
haha..he locks his door
A moving film. Faustino Barrientos is a very interesting man - it would have been nice to have learned a little more about him.
Her voice is annoying.
the title is mis leading. he in not in complete isolation! he gets his goods , he probably has been into town once and while, he is just a farmer living in the boonies, a hermit so to speak, plenty of these guys around.
still good story.
1965 to 2005 is 40 years. We dont know what he did in those 40 years. Maybe he did live alone until then and in 2005 and people came into his life. The title is not mis leading, your understanding of it, is just wrong.
Better than expected... I particularly enjoyed "the waiting for something to happen" so when it didn't I wasn't even disappointed.
aww bless
Bless Him.
Amazing way of life. I do though,question why one might not be vegetarian. Cooking dried beans, lentils etc. could be an option, I'd say.
He mentioned the lands were poor for farming i think, so you need the animals. Without the boat, he wouldn't have a reliable supply or variety of dried goods to support a vegetarian diet.
Super cheesy....That's just another day in the 3rd world,she hyped it all up like this guy had some special talent to stay alive..
It takes a bigger set of balls and skills than most people realize to live out in the wilderness like that. That is very far from 3rd world, that is a nearly ancient way of life that we oft forget was the trademark of the first settlers that forged a life in the wild lands of our respective countries and paved the way for the cushy future we all enjoy now.
3rd world? do you know the definition of 3rd world? :S
couldnt really get into this i mean the guy has clothing and whine hows that isolation he just doesnt have hydro or a car like millions of poor people everywhere yet hes just fortunate not to live in a third world country and in a place where its possible to sustain himself off the land
blimey,they found biggles !
maybe the goggles blend out the fact that his living right next to a motorway,believing he's 'isolated'.typical alzheimer syndrome>smirk<.
Pretty countryside.. it does look very peaceful on the surface.
Had to giggle at his philosophy concerning fear and his balls.
Hey , don't laugh . I do that every morning too , works wonders .
While I did enjoy the doc and learning about this unique individual...I couldn't help but be distracted by the host. She is everywhere throughout the movie and rather overbearing. Hell the first part is just her. It seems as though the film makers were trying to romanticize Faustino...when all Faustino was trying to do was live.
Humans are all each others therapists, healers, teachers and students too. How do we get our therapy if we live life alone?
Faustino doesn't appear to need any. He seems so well adjusted and content living only for himself....Right or wrong, he is indeed a rare specimen.
nice lock at the door
I respect the man for having the courage,willpower and inner strength to cope with this.
I for sure admit that I would have some difficulties integrating into a life of complete and utter isolation from the world around me, I like nature, but I like my cozy couch, a warm tea and a good book as well, and some nice music go play in the background.
Most people envision a sort of idyllic romance with nature, a place where you can be one with nature in perfect harmony. Those people tend to dream too much. Living alone, on your own is brutal.
In the world of fast food, coke, mocaccino's and iPhone's. Most people barely know how to cook basic food like a chicken breast, and they dream about being alone on their own in nature ? :) A really sad joke, what will you eat? Grass and dirt?
It is really hard and it takes a man with a strong determination and a clear goal to do this, otherwise you will break in a matter of days.
Just because you can't cook a chicken breast doesn't mean the rest of us can't. C'mon man, that's an ignorant thing to say.
I agree with Akalilglobug1, if I could do this then I would.
Jane Doe
Nice twist of my words, and nice trolling attempt :)
Where did I mention that I do not know how to cook a chicken breast? I meant as in the general population. Next time do me a favor and read with your eyes open. Otherwise people will think you are really ignorant...
i would give all my modern everything to have the ability to do just this... amazing
I do not really think you would switch places with someone like that.
Unless you are living in some war torn place like Kongo where you had to go in the mines since your childhood.
Or you live in Iraq and your entire family has been bombed to pieces together with all your belongings.
I do not think most people appreciate the things they take for granted. Living in complete isolation from the world does not only take someone to have the will to move mountains, it also takes survival skills. I have a hard time imagining anyone who writes here or who comments on youtube, to actually know what it means to live alone on your own, and what a strain that can be on your psyche, you can easily go nuts if you are not prepared.
What it means to actually hunt your food, catch it and cook it, to not have the internet that you are so dependent upon,no documentaries, no movies,no youtube, no smartphones, no games, no cars,no air conditioning, no central heating, no going out in town with friends, nothing.
Just you alone and the wild things around you. It sounds nice and anyone will take a go at it for a few days. However most would not last 1 week alone, nature can offer quite the sites for our eyes and brains to imagine. However it has quite a brutal side as well, a place where if you are not prepared, you might end up dead.
We all have wallpapers of nice mountains and beautiful tropical beaches, I wonder how many would actually have a go at it on living there like Tom Cruise in Cast Away.
Excellent doc. Enjoyed learning about Faustino Barrientos and his way of life. nothing like i was expecting, he seems quite happy now. thanks for posting the link.
dreamland-very beautiful.give me my woman and i'm ready to live and die here.thanx
Looks like a good doc. but its cloudy today so I doubt Ill have enough juice to watch it.
The girl doing the voice-over has this extremely annoying throatsound at the end of each sentence. I think maybe she is straining her voice to try to make it sound deeper and more grown up? Really bad idea. I had to give up watching after three minutes. Shame.
This is a amasing and excellent documentary - thank you