What a strange and intriguing film this is. Knowing nothing about it, for the first 10 minutes or so watching three out-of-work-miners arrive in the Bolivian capital La Paz, I assumed I was watching a documentary. These men, exhausted after walking for seven days, are part of a convoy of hundreds protesting against mine closures and to look for jobs. Director Kiro Russo works with a cast of actual miners – but alongside these verité portraits, he mashes in other film-making styles. In one bonkers scene, traders at a fruit and veg market break into an energetic dance routine, 80s-pop video style. Somehow, Russo pulls it off – mostly.
The movie opens with a long sequence as the camera zooms into La Paz, soundtracked by city noises: cars honking, security alarms blaring and the clack-clack of construction work. Russo is interested in the unfathomable scale of the city. His camera pans from window to window of apartment blocks as if astonished that so many lives can squeeze into one place.
