Review of Bolivia (2002) by Dfw F — 28 Dec 2009

Bolivia (2001) This is the first feature-length film from director Israel Adrian Caetano. It was an Argentinean & Dutch Production. Filmed in black & white & on a low budget the film was shot 3 days a week over a period of three years.

Kind of a neo-realism slice of life film the mostly plot-free film is confined to a caf�©-bar in the lower-middle class Buenos Aires suburb of Villa Crespo, with few trips outside. It tells the story of Freddy (Freddy Flores), a Bolivian 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 & three daughters & travels to Argentina to search for employment as an undocumented worker. He hopes to make money & later return to his family.

He lands a job as a grill cook in a seedy Villa Crespo caf�© where the owner (Enrique Liporace) is happy to skirt Argentinean immigrant laws in order to secure cheap labor. It is in this caf�© that Freddy meets the characters who affect his life: Rosa (Rosa Sanchez), a waitress of Paraguayan/Argentine descent, & an outsider by virtue of her mixed heritage; Hector (Hector Anglada), a traveling salesman from the province of C�³rdoba who's gay; a Porteno taxi driver (Oscar Bertea), & one of the driver's buddies.

Freddy also has to deal with various Argentine caf�© patrons who view all Paraguayans & Bolivians with disdain due to their ethnicity. The film gives us a realistic portrayal of racism immigrant labor & prejudices in Argentina.

Cateano used professional & non professional actors. Freddy Flores was a local non professional. Other reviewers state this film is for art film students only. I disagree. All interested in foreign film & film in South America & Argentina will like this film.

It very realistic & I enjoyed it. This short 75 minute film about poverty, intolerance, violence, & despair in contemporary Argentina is powerful & I recommend it. This is a universal story.

3 stars.