Bolivia (2001)

100% of critics liked it
(12 reviews)
75% of users liked it
(447 ratings)

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… More 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. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 15 min.
Directed By: Adrián Caetano
Written By: Adrián Caetano
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Jan 1, 2001 Wide
On DVD: Oct 18, 2005
Studio: Cinema Tropical

Critic Reviews

Manohla Dargis, Los Angeles Times
There are no big surprises in Caetano's film, which plays out exactly as ordained, only a sense of life at its most precarious and real.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Packs a wallop that belies its humble origins.
Elvis Mitchell, New York Times
This film, Mr. Caetano's feature-length directorial debut, has an emotional integrity that's concise and direct.
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
Virtually plot-free, the movie's organic cultivation of Argentina's economic tension and ethnophobic woes ... is smooth as silk.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A compelling parable told in a realistic manner about a gentle illegal immigrant from Bolivia.
Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star
Caetano tells his story with a gritty nerve and eye for surly detail,
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Far more exhilarating than depressing. Watching a great storyteller like writer/director Adrián Caetano craft such a simple and startling tale offers a source of great pleasure.
Jamie Russell, BBC
A dazzling display of style and verve.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Bolivia is a riveting slice-of-life drama set in Buenos Aires that presents a harrowing look at urban poverty and the explosive impact of the hatred of foreigners.
Maria Garcia, Film Journal International
Starkly beautiful debut feature exploring the human face of Latin America's economic crisis.
Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Exposes both the economic and sexual exploitation of illegal workers, and the way in which hatred and ethnic scape goating are the inevitable -- and inevitably tragic -- result of economic crisis.

Read all 11 critic reviews

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Cast

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