The article proposes a comparative reading of José Mármol’s novel Amalia (1851/5) and its homonymous film transposition, directed by Luis José Moglia Barth in 1936. Released during the celebrations for the 400^th anniversary of the first settlement of Buenos Aires, the movie involves a desire for distinction since it revisits the idea of the city as epitome of the nation, in order to offer an alternative model of Argentine identity that differs from the imaginaries of criollismo and tango.