El Baño del Papa (the Pope's Toilet) (2007)
2009; Volume: 39; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1548-9922
Autores Tópico(s)Cinema and Media Studies
ResumoEl bano del Papa (The Pope's Toilet) (2007) El bano del Papa (The Pope's Toilet) (2007) Written and directed by Cesar Charlone and Enrique Fernandez Film Movement www.filmmovement.com 95 min. El bano del Papa (The Pope 's Toilet) is latest Uruguayan film to receive international acclaim - no small feat for one of smallest national cinemas of Americas. Although commercial film projection took place in Montevideo as early as 1898, and movie theater attendance in Uruguay was once proportionally highest in Latin America, few national feature films were released. Distribution was firmly controlled by foreign companies (mainly those located in United States), and Uruguayans, like cinema-goers in other Spanish-speaking countries, held to belief that imported films were always better than their own. These social and historical factors combined to limit growth and recognition of Uruguayan film, both at home and internationally. After World War II, Uruguay proudly marketed itself as the Switzerland of Americas, and throughout culturally-focused 1960s, a new generation of directors like Mario Handler and Ugo Ulive introduced Cinema Verite and Direct Cinema, developed in Europe and North America, by filmmakers such as James Peacock and Frederick Wiseman. The Uruguayan adaption of these traditions led to release of films such as Elecciones (1968) and La bandera que levantamos (The Flag We Raise, 1971). This Golden Age of prosperity, creative productivity, and political stability eroded into social unrest, a coup d'etat, and over a decade of right-wing dictatorship that stunted many outlets for artistic and creative production, including film. Since return of democratic governance in 1985, new channels have been established in Uruguay for funding and distributing national films, but new challenges have also arisen. Other Latin American cinemas (most notably, Argentina's) have left little room for Uruguay to develop a film industry that could compete with Hollywood products in Latin American market. In spite of this, recent Uruguayan films have enjoyed remarkable acceptance - many, such as Salvavidas debajo de su asiento ([Life Jacket Is under Your Seat] Leonardo Ricagni, 2002) and multiple awardwinning Whisky (Juan Pablo Rebella - Pablo Stoll, 2004), offering commentary on country's socio-economic conditions - setting their stories in a decaying and dismaying Montevideo, using city's physical neglect to frame disillusion and helplessness of a society that is merely a shadow of affluent nation that it was. Filmmakers Cesar Charlone and Enrique Fernandez add a new narrative to this cinematic tradition - angst of orientales (as Uruguayans are also known) - turning national celebration surrounding Pope's Uruguayan visit into a commentary on growing disempowerment of country's population. As film opens, a group of smugglers brings contraband articles across border, from Brazil into Uruguay. The little town of Melo does not thrive from this illegal commerce, but it does offers a meager living to men and women who manage to introduce smuggled goods into town's economy. From this beginning, we witness a chronicle of economic, political, and moral decay, mirroring some of Uruguay's harshest realities. Notably, customs officer Meleyo, who regularly blackmails and humiliates smugglers, stands as a referent to structural corruption that has plagued all levels of administration in Uruguay - legacy of over two decades of authoritarian rule. Additionally, narrative highlights economic crisis caused by new international economic order, through loss of foreign markets for export of Uruguayan products, and shrinking purchasing power of country's already impoverished citizens. The film focuses on a bagayero (smuggler) Beto, his wife Carmen, and their teenage daughter, Silvia. …
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