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Bolivia (film)
Bolivia (2001) is an Argentine and Dutch drama film directed by Israel Adrian Caetano, his first feature-length film. The screenplay is written by Caetano, based the Romina Lafranchini story, who's his wife. The motion picture features Freddy Flores and Rosa Sanchez, among others.
The film was photographed in "gritty" 16mm black-and-white, and was shot by cinematographer Julian Apezteguia. Atkinson, Michael. The Village Voice, film review, February 26, 2003. Bolivia was filmed entirely in Buenos Aires.
Plot
The mostly plot-free film is confined to a cafe-bar in the lower-middle class Buenos Aires suburb of Villa Crespo, with a few trips outside.
It tells the story of Freddy (Freddy Flores), a Bolivian with a gentle disposition who, after the US burn down the coca fields where he works, loses his job. With little work opportunities in Bolivia he leaves his wife and three daughters and travels to Argentina to look for work, yet, he's an undocumented worker. He hopes of making good money and later return to his family.
He lands a job as a grill cook in a seedy Villa Crespo cafe where the brutish owner (Enrique Liporace) is happy to skirt Argentinian immigrant laws in order to secure cheap labor.
There Freddy meets the characters that effect his life: Rosa (Rosa Sanchez), a waitress of Paraguayan/Argentinian descent, and an outsider by virtue of her mixed blood; Hector (Hector Anglada), a traveling salesman from the province of Cordoba who's gay; a porteno taxi driver (Oscar Bertea); and one of the driver's buddies.
Freddy also has to deal with various Argentinian cafe patrons who view all Paraguayans, Uruguayans, and Bolivians with disdain due to their ethnicity.
Background
Production
The motion picture was financed partly by the Rotterdam International Film Festival's Hubert Bals Fund and the INCAA (Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales de la Argentina).
The filming was a stop-and-go production and required three years of discontinuous shooting. It was shot on different days and at different times. According to director Caetano, he was never able to film for more than three days at a time.
Basis of film
Caetano said, "[W]hen writing the script, what interested me was the story; the issue of racism was not very present. However, it is inevitable that when addressing those characters and setting the story in that particular social strata, there is a series of themes that appear on their own and impose themselves."
Caetano believes that, "[T]he films main theme is the collision among people of the same social class, they are workers about to be left out of any class at all, and thus they are intolerant towards one another. Basically, they are trapped in a situation they can not escape."
Casting
Caetano, in neo-realist fashion, used both professional and non-professional actors. Freddy Flores, the main character, for example, is a non-professional actor.
Cast
Freddy Flores as Freddy
Rosa Sanchez as Rosa
Oscar Bertea as Oso
Enrique Liporace as Enrique Galmes
Marcelo Videla as Marcelo
Hector Anglada as Hector, the Salesman
Alberto Mercado as Mercado
Distribution
The film was first featured at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2001 where it won the Best Feature Young Critics Award. It opened in the Netherlands on January 24, 2002 and in Argentina on April 11, 2002.
The film was also shown at various film festivals, including: the Donostia-San Sebastian International Film Festival, the London Film Festival, the Rotterdam International Film Festival, the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, the Festivalissimo Montreal, the Cinemas d'Amerique Latine de Toulouse, the Cleveland International Film Festival, and the Film by the Sea Film Festival.
In the United States the movie opened in New York City on February 26, 2003.
Critical reception
Film critic Elvis Mitchell, writing for The New York Times, liked the direction of the film, and wrote, "Mr. Caetano's work is most telling and gripping...[and] has an emotional integrity that's concise and direct." Mitchell, Elvis. New York Times, film review, February 26, 2003.
Film critics Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat of the website Spirituality and Practice were touched by the story they viewed, and wrote, "Bolivia is a riveting slice-of-life drama...[that] hits the mark with its harrowing depiction of urban poverty and the divisive and explosive impact of the hatred of foreigners." Brussat, Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. Spirituality and Practice, film review.
Manohla Dargis, film critic for the Los Angeles Times, makes the case that the film sub silento informs of what is happening in Argentina (in 2001) both economically and culturally. She wrote, "Life in Bolivia, a parable about contemporary Argentina, is even grittier than the film's churning black-and-white cinematography...[and the film] offers up characters in a state of ongoing crisis. Underpaid and overwhelmed, financially unmoored and spiritually adrift, these are men and women for whom the tanking economy is, finally, just the most obvious manifestation of a deeper malaise." Dargis, Manohla. Los Angeles Times, film review, June 6, 2003.
Currently, the film has a 100% "Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on twelve reviews.
Awards
Wins
Cannes Film Festival: Young Critics Award Best Feature, Israel Adrian Caetano; 2001.
London Film Festival: FIPRESCI Prize, Israel Adrian Caetano, for its direct, sentimental treatment of on of the most important social questions facing urban societies everywhere; 2001.
Donostia-San Sebastian International Film Festival: Made in Spanish Award, Israel Adrian Caetano; 2001.
Rotterdam International Film Festival: KNF Award, Israel Adrian Caetano; 2002.
Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor; Best Screenplay, Adapted, Israel Adrian Caetano; Best Supporting Actor, Enrique Liporace; 2003.
Nominated
Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor; Best Cinematography, Julian Apezteguia; Best Editing, Lucas Scavino, Santiago Ricci; Best Film; Best New Actor, Freddy Waldo Flores; 2003.
External links
Bolivia at the cinenacional.com .
Bolivia film review at Cineismo by Guillermo Ravaschino .
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Bolivia (film)
