MANILA, Philippines ? The storyline in this Uruguayan film is most familiar to us: small impoverished village of Melo, Uruguay, near the Brazilian border is suddenly thrust into the limelight, at least for a few hours, because of a visit of the pope, John Paul II.
For the village people, this is an opportunity of a lifetime, not only for securing divine blessings, but material ones as well. Visitors, initially announced to be in the thousands, will descend on their place, and these peregrines will certainly need to eat, drink, or look for papal memorabilia like medals and flags.
For the main protagonist Beto (César Troncoso), a poor, small-time smuggler, these people will also need a place to relieve themselves. He thus sets about to build a decent latrine for the visitors? use, for a fee, of course, complete with a toilet bowl and a solid door.
This, he says, will be the start of a good reversal of fortunes for him and his family: a new motorcycle for himself; new things for his saintly wife Carmen (Virginia Méndez); and a college education for their daughter Silvia (Virginia Ruiz), who wants to be a TV and radio announcer.
Obsessed man
Beto, together with a group, especially his good friend Valvulino (Mario Silva), get on their old bicycles and obtain goods at the Brazilian side near the border. These include daily household needs like starch, batteries, food stuff, although sometimes a whiskey bottle or two are included. These they transport all the way to their village shops, where the shopkeepers buy them at a cheaper price because no taxes are paid.
These smuggling activities do not escape the eyes of a custom officer, Meleyo (Nelson Lence), who often harasses the group of cyclists by running after them on the side roads using his huge red pick-up truck.
After the idea of building his toilet for the papal visit took hold of him, Beto becomes an obsessed man, asking help from his neighbors to build it, borrowing money and building an unholy alliance with the very person he despises, the corrupt custom officer Meleyo, and even using Carmen?s personal savings in a jar to finish his project.
The other village people are not to be outdone: Thousands of chorizos are made, sandwich buns baked, streamers sewn, and medallions purchased, all to be sold, and all for the impending big profits during the much-awaited day.
Satirical study
What happens in the end makes for an interesting study in socio-economics reminiscent of our own, where quick money-making schemes abound (think lottery, local game shows where big bucks are promised to winners), including the disdain of hard work, the tendency to cut corners, and even public servants prone to look the other way when their palms are greased.
Funny and satirical, the film puts the spotlight on those who live below the poverty line, where neighborliness is a way of life (shown by the friendship between Beto and Valvulino; the way Carmen easily lends a cup of sugar to her neighbor although they themselves are in want; the men getting drunk in the corner carinderia), a way to cope with the harshness of reality.
This world, indeed, is very familiar to us. As the story unfolds, Melo might well be transplanted here in any of the Filipino villages and we won?t know the difference. Even the satirical excesses of so much food prepared, the seemingly mad ruse of Beto to earn money during the pope?s visit could well be seen locally.
Truth of human heart
Interestingly, the cast is assembled not only from known Uruguayan actors (Troncoso, Méndez and Lence) but also from local inhabitants of the actual village of Melo itself, where Portuguese is spoken because of its proximity to Brazil.
Enrique Fernández wrote a beautiful script, based on a neighbor he has known as a child, a character who has been with him for a long time.
César Charlone brings us breathtakingly beautiful cinematography of the Uruguayan countryside: his long shots of the colorful skies, the green, grassy roads, and the wide sweep of the lay of the land.
The movie may be a satirical comment on a serious socio-economic problem, but ultimately it underlines the truth that the human heart will always persist to dream, to find ways to reach that dream even though how difficult; and to love, even if this love is not always expressed, a love that awaits acceptance and reciprocity, like the love of Beto for his daughter Silvia.
The last scene where father and daughter walk together by the road to face a new day speaks volumes of how Beto and Silvia, in spite of their many differences, finally find a way to accept each other.
?El Baño de Papa? will be shown during the 8th Película: Spanish Film Festival, ongoing until October 11. For screening schedules, call Instituto Cervantes at 5261482; visit http://manila.cervantes.es or www.pelicula.
ph.
A poet and physician, the author is at work on a translation project (the poetry of Jaime Gil de Biedma), while continuing her Spanish lessons every Saturday at Instituto Cervantes.
