This is a documentary film about a shelter for homeless men ran by the Buenos Aires city government called Parador Retiro. The city has another 2 shelters, but this one is the biggest one and the most important of them all because it is next to an important bus terminal and train station.
When the lights went off and the movie started, I began to experience a gradual immersion in a world that is so very different from the one I experience every day. May be it was the absence of narration and music that were not there to moderate emotions which contributed to this feeling. When the movie ended and the lights went on I felt I was coming back from a dantesque trip, very much like a bad dream.
The story is centered around a few particular characters that are used to sleeping at the shelter. Even though not explicitly mentioned, the shelter is not a permanent residence but a place to sleep at night. If you arrive and it is fully occupied, and you have no alternative place then you will have to sleep on the street.
The age range of people using the shelter is extremely wide. You can see vital youngsters as well as senior citizens with compromising health issues and reduced mobility.
There are lots of scenes in this film that will make you think and re-think your own life and our society. But I consider there is a scene that symbolically synthesizes the whole movie. A not so old person is sitting by the edge of his bed and has huge difficulty in standing up. A security man enters the scene and gives him a hand to help him stand. The guard leaves and this man starts to walk and falls down within very few steps. You can see some people staring from far, passively, without making any attempt to help him up. This time two security people come and help the man to his feet. In some way this scene reminded me of the wildlife documentaries where a vulnerable animal is surrounded by a group of animals in order to protect it from predators, until it is finally abandoned to fatality while its peers watch from far away.
In what sense does this scene synthesize the movie? The shelter receives day by day those who have fallen down from our social and economic system. Giving these people the chance of spending the night safe from cold and rain, food, hygiene, and grooming, as well as medical care is a way of giving them a hand so they can stand on their own two feet again. There is another scene where you can see that people working at the shelter try to help so that these homeless men can get a job and consequently to their own private living space. This is undoubtedly a good objective for those who are able to have an active working life. But being more than 50 years old, and sick in a place that does not help them get well or simply not having a pair of glasses so they can read the small letters when looking for a job in the newspaper are almost impossible obstacles when they try to get into the universe of self sufficient human beings.
Lots of questions arise. How many falls can a man suffer until he is not able to stand up anymore? Is our help effective even though the person we are helping stands up to fall down again after a few steps? Is this fair? Is this too much or too little?
When the lights went off and the movie started, I began to experience a gradual immersion in a world that is so very different from the one I experience every day. May be it was the absence of narration and music that were not there to moderate emotions which contributed to this feeling. When the movie ended and the lights went on I felt I was coming back from a dantesque trip, very much like a bad dream.
The story is centered around a few particular characters that are used to sleeping at the shelter. Even though not explicitly mentioned, the shelter is not a permanent residence but a place to sleep at night. If you arrive and it is fully occupied, and you have no alternative place then you will have to sleep on the street.
The age range of people using the shelter is extremely wide. You can see vital youngsters as well as senior citizens with compromising health issues and reduced mobility.
There are lots of scenes in this film that will make you think and re-think your own life and our society. But I consider there is a scene that symbolically synthesizes the whole movie. A not so old person is sitting by the edge of his bed and has huge difficulty in standing up. A security man enters the scene and gives him a hand to help him stand. The guard leaves and this man starts to walk and falls down within very few steps. You can see some people staring from far, passively, without making any attempt to help him up. This time two security people come and help the man to his feet. In some way this scene reminded me of the wildlife documentaries where a vulnerable animal is surrounded by a group of animals in order to protect it from predators, until it is finally abandoned to fatality while its peers watch from far away.
In what sense does this scene synthesize the movie? The shelter receives day by day those who have fallen down from our social and economic system. Giving these people the chance of spending the night safe from cold and rain, food, hygiene, and grooming, as well as medical care is a way of giving them a hand so they can stand on their own two feet again. There is another scene where you can see that people working at the shelter try to help so that these homeless men can get a job and consequently to their own private living space. This is undoubtedly a good objective for those who are able to have an active working life. But being more than 50 years old, and sick in a place that does not help them get well or simply not having a pair of glasses so they can read the small letters when looking for a job in the newspaper are almost impossible obstacles when they try to get into the universe of self sufficient human beings.
Lots of questions arise. How many falls can a man suffer until he is not able to stand up anymore? Is our help effective even though the person we are helping stands up to fall down again after a few steps? Is this fair? Is this too much or too little?
