Audience Member
In the small, impoverished town of Melo in Uruguay, very near the border with Brazil, there are a group of men who make their living smuggling contraband across the international border, dealing with the corrupt border guards there. The movie concentrates on one of the men, who has a wife and daughter who live in an impoverished house which is little better than a shack. The daughter has dreams of having a career of being in television, though that seems very far away. The father of course has dreams of making money in a less risky way.
Opportunity comes for not only him but for his fellow villagers when Pope John Paul II comes to the town to speak. Everybody expects huge crowds to come to Melo, and most of the townsfolk get loans with the idea of serving food and drink to the coming visitors. Our hero has a more clever idea; he comes up with a pay toilet for the visitors. But he still has to smuggle some more to create his bathroom...will everything pay off?
This movie is based on real events, and while I cannot say how accurate the movie depicts Uruguay and its slums, the movie provides an appropriate atmosphere for the story.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/22/23
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Audience Member
Everything, from the plot to the main character, shows the sensitivity of writers and directors to tell a raw story with honesty and respect. This is perhaps his greatest achievement, through which they obtain not only a film about poverty and misery, but a film about humanity, about wishing, failing and wishing again.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/23/23
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Audience Member
Based on true events as a small village in Uruguay goes bananas over the Pope's 1988 visit. Everyone prepare for the happening. Rich Brazilians are coming, loads of them, so everyone is producing stuff to sell. Food and souvenirs mostly and the smuggler Beto, out guy, has plenty of stuff to do.
He also has a brilliant plan. When all these people are walking the streets, buying food and drinks, they need to use the toilet, right? So he build one to charge a small fee for using it. It's not installed with water, but hey - it's a porcelain toilet with walls around!
Brilliant story, funny stuff. The production is OK and so is the acting. Still, this was a dissapointment. It never reaches me and it's not very funny. The all over mood is humorous, but it does not work out like other than an dark comedy that suffer from uncharming, amature-like production. Lovely idea, though!
6 out of 10 smuggler routes.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/17/23
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Audience Member
????? ???? ?????? ???? ?????????? ??? ??? ?????? ????, ???? ????, ????? ????????????? :((
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/01/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Are you kidding? Where is the uplifting experience, the miracle? "The final result will surprise everyone"? Sure, when they all say, "That's the end? That can't be the end!"
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
Full Review
Audience Member
From Uruguay, written and directed by CÃ (C)sar Charlone and Enrique Fernandez, (Charlone was cinematography on City Of God (2002) and The Constant Gardener (2005)), this is a film with an offbeat premise, ever-so partially inspired by true events, but it has the gritty realism of Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, but it also has cheekiness and humour of Ealing. Uruguay's contribution to cinema might be limited, but this is a good one. In 1988, in the poverty stricken town of Melo in Uruguay a few miles away from the Brazilian border. Petty smuggler Beto (CÃ (C)sar Troncoso), does runs on his bike across the border to get food and supplies from Brazil, but he's usually stopped by customs, but he sometimes gets around the border, only to be caught sometimes. However, when it's announced that Pope John Paul II is to visit Melo on a pilgrimage, and that people from miles around, Uruguay and Brazil alike. Beto has an idea to make a bit of money, he plans to build a toilet where the thousands of pilgrims can find relief, however with lack of money and the local customs officers breathing down Beto's neck, it's not going to be easy to pull off such a visionary idea. This was Uruguay's entry for the 2008 Oscars, it didn't get nominated but it probably should have, as it's warm, touching, poignant and gently funny, but it shows the hardships that people in Uruguay faced then and that some still face now. The title alone should warrant it as a must see.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/05/23
Full Review
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