Bolivia (2001) [Re-UP]

Director: Adrián Caetano
Stars: Freddy Flores, Rosa Sánchez, Oscar Bertea

A man leaves the life he's known behind to support his family as an undocumented worker in this realistic drama. Freddy (Freddie Flores) was born and raised in Bolivia, but when the intervention of American drug enforcement agents led to the destruction of the cocoa fields where he worked, he finds himself with no way to support his family. Desperate for work, Freddy is smuggled into Argentina, where he's given a job by Don Enrique (Enrique Liporace), the owner of a Buenos Aires cafe who employs a number of illegal aliens, prompted less by benevolence than the economy of not having to pay them the same wages as legitimate workers. Freddy is given a job as a cook, where he's paid a mere 15 pesos a day (a phone call back home costs ten pesos), and he soon discovers that many of the townspeople in Buenos Aires don't much care for immigrants. Freddy bonds with Rosa (Rosa Sanchez), an illegal from Paraguay who waits tables for Don Enrique, as they deal with hateful and abusive treatment both at work and on the streets. Shot on videotape, Bolivia features a cast of non-professional actors for greater realism, with only Enrique Liporace having had prior onscreen experience as a performer.

Hampered by an extremely limited budget, Argentinean director Adrian Caetano shot "Bolivia" (2001) in bits and pieces over a three year period. I find this almost impossible to believe since the film itself is so seamless it feels like it could well have been shot in a single night.

The film approaches classical Aristotelian unity; it takes place over just a few days and the majority of the action occurs in a café in which the locals spend whatever money they are able to scrape together; Argentina is suffering through a terrible post-bubble economy: jobs are scarce and inflation has destroyed the value of everyone's savings.

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Bolivia (2001) [Re-UP]

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Into this volatile situation steps Freddy (Freddy Flores), a Bolivian immigrant who lost his job as a crop gatherer after Americans sprayed the fields near his home as part of the international war on drugs. Freddy gratefully accepts a job as a short order cook in this greasy spoon; his boss Enrique (Enrique Liporace), delighted to have cheap labor, treats him well enough and Freddy intends only to mind his own business until he can save some money to send back home to his family in Bolivia. Freddy fades into the woodwork whenever possible, but his poker-faced expression masks his constant wariness. He knows he has wandered into a mine field, and can't afford a single misstep.

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Bolivia (2001) [Re-UP]

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Freddy first runs into trouble with some corrupt cops who enjoy hassling illegals, but he avoids major problems simply by keeping his mouth shut and showing the proper respect (fear) that the cops demand. Caetano doesn't depict Freddy as a simple innocent, however. The loneliness wears on him and, though he loves his wife, Freddy falls into an affair with his co-worker Rosa (Rosa Sanchez), an immigrant from Paraguay.

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Bolivia (2001) [Re-UP]

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Tempers begin to flare, prompted mostly by the petulant whining of café regular Oso (Oscar Bertea) who blames everyone but himself for his permanent state of unemployment and poverty. As long as Freddy bears the casual racism of the locals with a mixture of stoicism and humility, he generally enjoys the sympathy of his boss and some of the more level-headed customers. However, when Oso becomes more aggressive, Freddy makes his first mistake: he fights back. Having "forgotten his proper place," he quickly finds he has no more friends, and the situation deteriorates rapidly, culminating in an abrupt and frightening climax.

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Bolivia (2001) [Re-UP]

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Shot on grainy 16mm black and white film, "Bolivia" has a gritty, borderline documentary feel. Make no mistake though – this is a well-written and well-acted film. The performances, many by non-professional actors, are uniformly stellar, esp. that of lead actor Freddy Flores who turns in a subtle but textured performance. He depicts Freddy as a man who knows the score, and balances a fine line between passive acceptance and constant vigilance. He doesn't expect much, but he hasn't given up either. Hope hasn't been squelched altogether in Freddy's heart, and he works not just to survive but also with the dream of returning to his family and making their lives better.

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Bolivia (2001) [Re-UP]

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The film depicts racism without painting anyone with a broad brush. Freddy is no saint, and none of the regulars, not even Oso, are mindless hate-mongers. "Bolivia" finishes almost before it starts, running at a crisp seventy minutes, but still develops a complex portrait of a culture facing enormous economic upheavals and everyone's response can be understood in context.

Caetano spends more time establishing a concrete sense of time and place than in developing a traditional narrative. But just when "Bolivia" appears to have settled permanently into a low gear, it delivers a hammer-blow to the kidneys. Both powerful and understated, "Bolivia" is an impressive effort.

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Argentina's national cinema emerged during the go-go 1990s when the country enjoyed a strong, though ultimately unsustainable, economic boom. The country's film industry benefited from the economic upturn, and produced a generation of young filmmakers who gained increasing attention in the international art-house circuit. Caetano is one of the leading lights of this generation, and his debut feature "Pizza, Beer, and Cigarettes" (1998) is one of the most influential Argentine films of the 90s. "Bolivia" was an art-house hit as well, winning the Young Critics Award at Cannes as well as prizes at numerous international film festivals. I have not had the opportunity to see many of the New Argentine films, but if "Bolivia" is any indication, I have been missing out on something pretty special.

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- Trailer

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