Bolivia (film)
Encyclopedia
Bolivia is an Argentine
and Dutch
drama film
directed by Israel Adrián Caetano
, his first feature-length film. The screenplay is written by Caetano, based upon the Romina Lafranchini story, about his wife. The motion picture features Freddy Flores
and Rosa Sánchez, among others.
The film was photographed in "gritty" 16mm black-and-white
, and was shot by cinematographer
Julián Apezteguia
. Bolivia was filmed entirely in Buenos Aires
.
-bar in the lower-middle class Buenos Aires
neighborhood of Villa Crespo
, with few trips outside.
Bolivia tells the story of Freddy (Freddy Flores
), a Bolivia
n with a gentle disposition, who, after Americans burn down the coca fields where he is employed, loses his job. With little work opportunities in Bolivia, he leaves his wife and three daughters and travels to Argentina
to search for employment as an undocumented worker. He hopes to make money and later return to his family.
He lands a job as a grill cook in a seedy Villa Crespo
café where the brutish owner (Enrique Liporace
) is happy to skirt Argentinian immigrant laws in order to secure cheap labor.
It is in this café that Freddy meets the characters who affect his life: Rosa (Rosa Sánchez), a waitress of Paraguay
an/Argentine descent, and an outsider by virtue of her mixed
heritage; Héctor (Héctor Anglada
), a traveling salesman from the province of Córdoba
who's gay; a Porteño
taxi driver (Oscar Bertea), and one of the driver's buddies.
Freddy also has to deal with various Argentine café patrons who view all Paraguayans and Bolivians with disdain due to their ethnicity.
(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.
Caetano believes that, "[T]he film’s 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."
fashion, used both professional and non-professional actors. Freddy Flores, the main character, for example, is a non-professional actor.
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 Sebastián International Film Festival, the London Film Festival
, the Rotterdam International Film Festival, the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, the Festivalissimo Montréal, the Cinémas d'Amérique 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.
, 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."
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."
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."
Currently, the film has a 100% "Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes
, based on twelve reviews.
Nominated
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Israel Adrián Caetano
Israel Adrián Caetano
Israel Adrián Caetano is an Uruguayan-Argentine film director, producer and screenplay writer.-Biography:He's often credited as Adrián Caetano. He works mainly in the cinema of Argentina and at times obtains funding for his films in Europe. He lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina.At age of sixteen his...
, his first feature-length film. The screenplay is written by Caetano, based upon the Romina Lafranchini story, about his wife. The motion picture features Freddy Flores
Freddy Flores
-Filmography:* Bolivia * Un Oso rojo aka A Red Bear-Award nomination:* Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor; Best New Actor for Bolivia; 2001.-External links:...
and Rosa Sánchez, among others.
The film was photographed in "gritty" 16mm black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
, and was shot by cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Julián Apezteguia
Julián Apezteguia
Julián Apezteguia is an Argentine film cinematographer. Three of his most recent films have been critically well received: Bolivia , 18-j , and Crónica de una fuga .-Filmography:...
. Bolivia was filmed entirely in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
.
Plot
The mostly plot-free film is confined to a caféCafé
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
-bar in the lower-middle class Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
neighborhood of Villa Crespo
Villa Crespo
Villa Crespo is a middle-class neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located in the geographical centre of the city. It had a population of 83,646 people in 2001, and thus population density of 23,235 inhabitants/km²....
, with few trips outside.
Bolivia tells the story of Freddy (Freddy Flores
Freddy Flores
-Filmography:* Bolivia * Un Oso rojo aka A Red Bear-Award nomination:* Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor; Best New Actor for Bolivia; 2001.-External links:...
), a Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
n with a gentle disposition, who, after Americans burn down the coca fields where he is employed, loses his job. With little work opportunities in Bolivia, he leaves his wife and three daughters and travels to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
to search for employment as an undocumented worker. He hopes to make money and later return to his family.
He lands a job as a grill cook in a seedy Villa Crespo
Villa Crespo
Villa Crespo is a middle-class neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located in the geographical centre of the city. It had a population of 83,646 people in 2001, and thus population density of 23,235 inhabitants/km²....
café where the brutish owner (Enrique Liporace
Enrique Liporace
-Life and work:Liporace began his career as an actor in 1963, when he was cast in La terraza, directed by period piece filmmaker Leopoldo Torre Nilsson. He earned extensive credits as a supporting actor in Argentine cinema, television and theatre in subsequent years, working with leading local...
) is happy to skirt Argentinian immigrant laws in order to secure cheap labor.
It is in this café that Freddy meets the characters who affect his life: Rosa (Rosa Sánchez), a waitress of Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
an/Argentine descent, and an outsider by virtue of her mixed
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
heritage; Héctor (Héctor Anglada
Héctor Anglada
Héctor Anglada was a film and television actor.He worked in the cinema of Argentina.-Filmography:* Cuesta abajo...
), a traveling salesman from the province of Córdoba
Córdoba Province (Argentina)
Córdoba is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are : Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja and Catamarca...
who's gay; a Porteño
Porteño
Porteño in Spanish is used to refer to a person who is from or lives in a port city, but it can also be used as an adjective for anything related to those port cities....
taxi driver (Oscar Bertea), and one of the driver's buddies.
Freddy also has to deal with various Argentine café patrons who view all Paraguayans and Bolivians with disdain due to their ethnicity.
Cast
- Freddy FloresFreddy Flores-Filmography:* Bolivia * Un Oso rojo aka A Red Bear-Award nomination:* Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor; Best New Actor for Bolivia; 2001.-External links:...
as Freddy - Rosa Sánchez as Rosa
- Oscar Bertea as Oso
- Enrique LiporaceEnrique Liporace-Life and work:Liporace began his career as an actor in 1963, when he was cast in La terraza, directed by period piece filmmaker Leopoldo Torre Nilsson. He earned extensive credits as a supporting actor in Argentine cinema, television and theatre in subsequent years, working with leading local...
as Enrique Galmes - Marcelo Videla as Marcelo
- Héctor AngladaHéctor AngladaHéctor Anglada was a film and television actor.He worked in the cinema of Argentina.-Filmography:* Cuesta abajo...
as Héctor, the Salesman - Alberto Mercado as Mercado
Production
The motion picture was financed partly by the Rotterdam International Film Festival's Hubert Bals Fund and the INCAAINCAA
The National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts is an Argentine government film production company in Buenos Aires. It promotes the Argentine film industry by funding qualified Argentine film production companies.-Ratings:...
(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 film’s 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-realistNeorealism (art)
In art, neorealism was established by the ex-Camden Town Group painters Charles Ginner and Harold Gilman at the beginning of World War I. They set out to explore the spirit of their age through the shapes and colours of daily life...
fashion, used both professional and non-professional actors. Freddy Flores, the main character, for example, is a non-professional actor.
Distribution
The film was first featured at the Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
in May 2001 where it won the Best Feature Young Critics Award. It opened in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
on January 24, 2002 and in Argentina on April 11, 2002.
The film was also shown at various film festivals, including: the Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival, the London Film Festival
London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is the UK's largest public film event, screening more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts from almost 50 countries. The festival, , currently in its 54th year, is run every year in the second half of October under the umbrella of the British Film Institute...
, the Rotterdam International Film Festival, the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, the Festivalissimo Montréal, the Cinémas d'Amérique Latine de Toulouse, the Cleveland International Film Festival
Cleveland International Film Festival
The Cleveland International Film Festival, first held in 1977, is the largest film festival in Ohio. The 2010 festival featured over 300 films. Since 1991 the festival has been held at Tower City Cinemas in downtown Cleveland.-Roxanne T...
, and the Film by the Sea Film Festival.
In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the movie opened in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on February 26, 2003.
Critical reception
Film critic Elvis MitchellElvis Mitchell
Elvis Mitchell is an American film critic, host of the public radio show The Treatment, and visiting lecturer at Harvard University. He has served as a film critic for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the LA Weekly, The Detroit Free Press, and The New York Times...
, writing for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, 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."
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."
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with A.O. Scott. She was formerly a chief film critic for the Los Angeles Times, the film editor at the LA Weekly, and a film critic at The Village Voice. She has written for a variety of publications, including Film Comment and...
, film critic for the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, 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."
Currently, the film has a 100% "Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, based on twelve reviews.
Awards
Wins- Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film FestivalThe Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
: Young Critics Award Best Feature, Israel Adrián Caetano; 2001. - London Film FestivalLondon Film FestivalThe BFI London Film Festival is the UK's largest public film event, screening more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts from almost 50 countries. The festival, , currently in its 54th year, is run every year in the second half of October under the umbrella of the British Film Institute...
: FIPRESCIFIPRESCIThe International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
Prize, Israel Adrián Caetano, for its direct, sentimental treatment of on of the most important social questions facing urban societies everywhere; 2001. - Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival: Made in Spanish Award, Israel Adrián Caetano; 2001.
- Rotterdam International Film Festival: KNF Award, Israel Adrián Caetano; 2002.
- Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor; Best Screenplay, Adapted, Israel Adrián Caetano; Best Supporting Actor, Enrique Liporace; 2003.
Nominated
- Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor; Best Cinematography, Julián Apezteguia; Best Editing, Lucas Scavino, Santiago Ricci; Best Film; Best New Actor, Freddy Waldo Flores; 2003.
External links
- Bolivia at the cinenacional.comCinenacional.comCinenacional.com is a web portal and web-based database about Argentine cinema.The site provides a vast array of information, including: films, television programs, directors, actors, cinematographers, film editors, production designers, and other production professions in Argentina...
- Bolivia film review at Cineismo by Guillermo Ravaschino