Film: La Chirola
Running time: 26 mins
Director: Diego Mondaca
Starring: Pedro Cajias
Genre: Documentary
Country: Cuba/Bolivia
La Chirola has been screened at various film festivals internationally.
Bolivia is not well known for its film making. Juan Carlos Valdivia is probably the most critically acclaimed export with his films Zona Sur (Southern Zone) and American Visa. However, of late the country has been host to a flourishing documentary scene, the time appears to be right in this developing nation for this type of film making to succeed. La Chirola is a short documentary that has had great international success, winning numerous awards around the globe. It dives into the world of those who have been confined, to try to understand the difficulties of life both inside and outside prison.
Diego Mondaca’s beautiful and moving film, La Chirola, takes an intimate look into the life of former Bolivian guerrilla and ex–convict Pedro Cajias.
We are invited into Cajias’ world, as he relates his emotions, memories and the trauma of life both inside and outside San Pedro prison in La Paz, Bolivia, where he was incarcerated. Pedro relates to us his fear of the unknown before going into prison and his experiences inside. Interestingly, he refuses to see his time inside as a punishment; instead he sees it as a shelter, a place to rest. He lets us into his inner most thoughts and feelings from the times before, during and following his spell inside. Throughout the film, we see that Pedro has been continually let down by people, and this has created his lack of faith in the human race.
We follow Pedro’s tales as he tells us of how he managed to turn his life around in jail after developing a bond with a dog that a prison guard gave him. Through this bond, he learns aspects of human nature, like kindness and loyalty, which he had never felt before. Pedro relates his experiences of the outside world after being imprisoned, and the difficulties of reintegration into society that confront many long-term offenders on their release. Will Pedro successfully resettle into society or escape to its margins?
Cajias is a charismatic, charming character, and we enter his world through a series of monologues to the camera and reconstructions of situations. He expresses his ideas and his life philosophy simply but eloquently. He is engaging in a way much like Philip Pettit from Man On Wire. You cannot take your eyes off him - even though he may be doing something very ordinary, you remain glued to this intriguing figure. During these monologues, Pedro drifts in and out of the frame, which refuses to contain him, reflecting his views on society and his refusal to be placed in a box.
The beautiful monochrome palette reflects the oppositional binaries and extremes of emotion that structure the documentary. Aesthetic form plays an important role in the film, as each object is carefully framed. Silhouetting and unconventional camera angles are also used for dramatic effect, enhancing our viewing experience. The close-up shots of Pedro’s dogs eating meat, and the amplified sound of their teeth crunching on the bones, serve to highlight their savageness, and the irony of the fact that it was the savage animal that made him more human than any human contact ever could have.
Shots drift hazily in and out of focus depending on what Pedro is telling us. When discussing his drug infused days the shots appear out of focus relating his inner conflict and confused mind, and drift back into focus upon more eloquent points. This is not to say that narrative is any less significant, it is equally important to the structure of the documentary as Pedro tells us his story sequentially.
The film does raise some questions over the boundaries between documentary and fiction, particularly in scenes during which Pedro re-enacts important moments of his life. It does not detract from the documentary, but serves to enhance it, as we get a further insight into his life and his character.
The sound throughout is both diegetic and non-diegetic. The non-diegetic sounds that do feature enrich the film. However the ending is complicated by the triumphant, militaristic band music which is juxtaposed with the actual outcome the film seems to come to.
Both visually striking and narratively gripping, La Chirola is a triumph. Cajias has a charm to him, which makes him very watchable, despite his rather depressing views on the human race. It offers up a bleak view of humankind, but it is gripping viewing, and its aesthetic pleasures are more than rewarding. LR
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