BOLIVIA
1/2
Trouble at a greasy spoon.
In Spanish, with English subtitles. Running time: 75 minutes. Not rated (sex and violence). At the Film Forum, Houston Street, west of Sixth Avenue, through Tuesday.
THE old saw that good things come in small packages is certainly true for “Bolivia.”
The 75-minute Argentine film was shot for almost nothing in a grainy black-and-white that at times feels as if you are watching a surveillance tape from the corner deli.
Actually, 33-year-old director Adrian Caetano shot “Bolivia” (his second feature) in a greasy-spoon diner on a corner in a poor suburb of Buenos Aires.
The story revolves around Freddy (a wonderful Freddy Flores), who left his wife and three children behind in Bolivia and moved to Argentina in search of a better life.
There only a week, he gets a job as cook at a diner run by a sleazy character more interested in saving money than obeying the law about hiring illegal immigrants like Freddy.
Another illegal, Rosa (Rosa Sanchez), is the diner’s sultry waitress. Both in the same predicament, she and Freddy develop a bond that leads to bed. (Wisely, she rejects advances by her boss.)
But life is far from happy for Freddy.
Cops harass him on the street. On the job, he is subjected to xenophobic outbursts from customers, especially one low-life cabbie who can’t pay for the coffee and sandwiches he orders.
A prize-winner on the film festival circuit, “Bolivia” packs a wallop that belies its humble origins.
The gritty photography is a perfect match for the film’s harsh realities, the script is taut (not a word or motion is wasted) and the acting is raw and realistic.
You feel sympathy and respect for Freddy, a hard-working guy who minds his own business.
Director Caetano keeps his distance from his characters. He doesn’t sermonize or point fingers. But you get the message.
“Bolivia” is scheduled to run for just a week at the Film Forum, so don’t delay seeing it.