A Brief Study of Argentinian Cinema
Argentina is likely not a country that jumps to your mind immediately when you think of countries with a thriving film industry. The ones that probably jumped to your mind most immediately are likely Japan, India, America, and more recently South Korea. When you think of Argentina you probably think more of things like its thriving wine industry or international superstar soccer player Lionel Messi who has recently become a household name in America. I would like to argue however that Argentina deserves to be thought of when it comes to great movies. Furthermore I would like to also argue that it is largely due to the influence of one key film, the 1998 film Pizza, birra, faso or as it’s known in English. Pizza, Beer and Cigarettes.
Pizza, birra, faso written and directed by Israel Adrián Caetano and Bruno Stagnaro is a crime drama film centered around a gang of youths in Buenos Aires. The central gang consists of El Cordobés, Megabom, Pablo, Sandra, and Frula. The group commits acts of petty theft in order to get by and survive. This of course escalates and leads to bigger crimes, as well as all the drama and tragedy that come along with this. If you haven’t watched the film I highly recommend you do so. It stands the test of time and is still engaging, emotional, and thrilling.
The film performed well on the international film festival circuit earning several nominations and winning awards at the Toulouse Latin American Film Festival, Gramado Film Festival, and the Fribourg International Film Festival. It performed well domestically in Argentina as well, earning several awards at the Argentine Film Critics Association Awards. Its legacy is long standing as well, the film has multiple times been voted as one of the top 10 films in the Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken Top 100 greatests films Argentine cinema. The Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken is a museum for Argentine cinema based in Buenos Aires. It carries out the task of preserving the history of the art form in Argentina and has been doing so for over 5 decades. The Museum's goal is to exhibit and preserve important objects that are part of the rich heritage of Argentine cinema.
Pizza, birra, faso is credited by film producer and documentarian Richard Shpuntoff as being "the spark that ignited the New Argentine Cinema when it premiered at the international Mar del Plata Film Festival.”, in an article for the 54th issue of MovieMaker Magazine. New Argentine Cinema is an incredibly important movement in the history of Argentine film. The movement is characterized by its opposition to the old tired modes of production in the country, an embracing of more abstract and experimental narratives, and the raw natural look and feel of the films. This last point is largely due to budget resource constraints. Like Pizza, birra, faso films in the New Argentine Cinema movement often used non-actors as well as natural lighting, fully on location shoots, and hand held camera work. This left the films of the movement with a very raw aesthetic and a feeling reminiscent of cinema verite. Films such as 2001’s Bolivia, 2001’s La Libertad, 1999’s and even more recent releases such as 2013’s El loro y el cisne can all be considered a part of the movement. The movement that Pizza, birra, faso helped to spark has had a long running and profound effect on Argentine cinema that can still be felt to this day.
Argentina, 1985 is a 2022 Argentinian film that was released by Amazon in the United States. It was nominated for Best International Feature Film in the 2022 Academy Awards, which it lost to German production All Quiet on the Western Front, a film which it beat to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Argentina, 1985 tells the powerful and important story about the 1985 Trial of the Juantas, the only time a democratic government has successfully held a large-scale trial and prosecution of a former dictatorial government of the same country in Latin American history. This film, which is a successful and acclaimed modern film, is not a part of the New Argentine Cinema movement. However it is heavily influenced by it. The film is in large part shot on location, using the actual original courthouse from the real trial. The film also features several long takes which were common among the New Argentine Cinema movement. Argentina, 1985 does feature professional actors, uses several built sets, and has a much more traditional approach to cinematography and camera work. This is what differentiates it from the New Argentina Cinema movement, but the influence is clear.
If you have never taken the time to explore the cinematic works of Argentina I highly implore you to do this. Pizza, birra, Faso and Argentina, 1985 are two fantastic starting points though they are far from the only options. Another films I watched and couldn’t find a good way to work into this discussion today but recommend are La Ciénaga directed by Lucrecia Martel and released in 2001 which is a fascinating exploration of an upper class bourgeois family and in particular the matriarch of the family and her own personal problems,. It is a fascinating study of class and social decay. This film is also a part of the New Argentine Cinema movement and was actually voted as the number 1 greatest Argentine film in the previously mentioned poll. The reason I choose to focus on Pizza, birra, faso over La Ciénaga is threefold. One it was easier to find more discussion about it, two it seems to have had more of an impact outside Argentina, and lastly because it was an early release and can be seen as sparking the movement.
When you think of Argentina you should think of cinema. It deserves to be thought of alongside Japan or India as a source of great films. It might not be as prolific as India, or have as wide an appeal as Japanese anime or Kaiju cinema does, but it has quality and prestige on par with them. I feel Latin America as a whole goes under appreciated for its contributions to the art form of cinema. I do believe we can all make a difference though, and all we have to do is watch great moves and talk about them.
References
Argentina, 1985. (2022). Argentina.
Gutierrez, C. (2023, December 17). Breaking boundaries: 25 Years of new Argentine cinema. Cinema Tropical. https://www.cinematropical.com/cinema-tropical/2023-in-review-25-years-of-the-new-argentine-cinema
Pizza, Birra, Faso. (1998). Argentina.
Shpuntoff, Richard. MovieMaker Magazine, "Don’t Cry for Argentina," Issue #54, Spring .2004
"Top 100" (in Spanish). Encuesta de cine argentino 2022. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
Pizza, birra, faso written and directed by Israel Adrián Caetano and Bruno Stagnaro is a crime drama film centered around a gang of youths in Buenos Aires. The central gang consists of El Cordobés, Megabom, Pablo, Sandra, and Frula. The group commits acts of petty theft in order to get by and survive. This of course escalates and leads to bigger crimes, as well as all the drama and tragedy that come along with this. If you haven’t watched the film I highly recommend you do so. It stands the test of time and is still engaging, emotional, and thrilling.
The film performed well on the international film festival circuit earning several nominations and winning awards at the Toulouse Latin American Film Festival, Gramado Film Festival, and the Fribourg International Film Festival. It performed well domestically in Argentina as well, earning several awards at the Argentine Film Critics Association Awards. Its legacy is long standing as well, the film has multiple times been voted as one of the top 10 films in the Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken Top 100 greatests films Argentine cinema. The Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken is a museum for Argentine cinema based in Buenos Aires. It carries out the task of preserving the history of the art form in Argentina and has been doing so for over 5 decades. The Museum's goal is to exhibit and preserve important objects that are part of the rich heritage of Argentine cinema.
Pizza, birra, faso is credited by film producer and documentarian Richard Shpuntoff as being "the spark that ignited the New Argentine Cinema when it premiered at the international Mar del Plata Film Festival.”, in an article for the 54th issue of MovieMaker Magazine. New Argentine Cinema is an incredibly important movement in the history of Argentine film. The movement is characterized by its opposition to the old tired modes of production in the country, an embracing of more abstract and experimental narratives, and the raw natural look and feel of the films. This last point is largely due to budget resource constraints. Like Pizza, birra, faso films in the New Argentine Cinema movement often used non-actors as well as natural lighting, fully on location shoots, and hand held camera work. This left the films of the movement with a very raw aesthetic and a feeling reminiscent of cinema verite. Films such as 2001’s Bolivia, 2001’s La Libertad, 1999’s and even more recent releases such as 2013’s El loro y el cisne can all be considered a part of the movement. The movement that Pizza, birra, faso helped to spark has had a long running and profound effect on Argentine cinema that can still be felt to this day.
Argentina, 1985 is a 2022 Argentinian film that was released by Amazon in the United States. It was nominated for Best International Feature Film in the 2022 Academy Awards, which it lost to German production All Quiet on the Western Front, a film which it beat to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Argentina, 1985 tells the powerful and important story about the 1985 Trial of the Juantas, the only time a democratic government has successfully held a large-scale trial and prosecution of a former dictatorial government of the same country in Latin American history. This film, which is a successful and acclaimed modern film, is not a part of the New Argentine Cinema movement. However it is heavily influenced by it. The film is in large part shot on location, using the actual original courthouse from the real trial. The film also features several long takes which were common among the New Argentine Cinema movement. Argentina, 1985 does feature professional actors, uses several built sets, and has a much more traditional approach to cinematography and camera work. This is what differentiates it from the New Argentina Cinema movement, but the influence is clear.
If you have never taken the time to explore the cinematic works of Argentina I highly implore you to do this. Pizza, birra, Faso and Argentina, 1985 are two fantastic starting points though they are far from the only options. Another films I watched and couldn’t find a good way to work into this discussion today but recommend are La Ciénaga directed by Lucrecia Martel and released in 2001 which is a fascinating exploration of an upper class bourgeois family and in particular the matriarch of the family and her own personal problems,. It is a fascinating study of class and social decay. This film is also a part of the New Argentine Cinema movement and was actually voted as the number 1 greatest Argentine film in the previously mentioned poll. The reason I choose to focus on Pizza, birra, faso over La Ciénaga is threefold. One it was easier to find more discussion about it, two it seems to have had more of an impact outside Argentina, and lastly because it was an early release and can be seen as sparking the movement.
When you think of Argentina you should think of cinema. It deserves to be thought of alongside Japan or India as a source of great films. It might not be as prolific as India, or have as wide an appeal as Japanese anime or Kaiju cinema does, but it has quality and prestige on par with them. I feel Latin America as a whole goes under appreciated for its contributions to the art form of cinema. I do believe we can all make a difference though, and all we have to do is watch great moves and talk about them.
References
Argentina, 1985. (2022). Argentina.
Gutierrez, C. (2023, December 17). Breaking boundaries: 25 Years of new Argentine cinema. Cinema Tropical. https://www.cinematropical.com/cinema-tropical/2023-in-review-25-years-of-the-new-argentine-cinema
Pizza, Birra, Faso. (1998). Argentina.
Shpuntoff, Richard. MovieMaker Magazine, "Don’t Cry for Argentina," Issue #54, Spring .2004
"Top 100" (in Spanish). Encuesta de cine argentino 2022. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
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