Mundo Grúa
Encyclopedia
Crane World is an 1999 Argentine
film
, written and directed by Pablo Trapero
. The film was produced by Lita Stantic
and Pablo Trapero. It features Luis Margani
, Adriana Aizemberg
, Daniel Valenzuela
, among others.
The movie was partly funded by Argentina's INCAA
.
The picture is about working class life in Argentina that's gritty (filmed in sepia, black and white). The film follows the fortunes in the life of Rulo, an unemployed suburban man, who tries to earn a living as a crane operator in Buenos Aires.
The film tells of Rulo (Luis Margani
), a moderately successful musician in the 1970s.
Today he's divorced and an unemployed forty-something day-laborer living in Buenos Aires
in the late 1990s. He's anxious for whatever work he can find. He lives with his son who's also musically inclined, and his mother (Graciana Chironi
).
His best friend Torres (Daniel Valenzuela
), who has connections in the Argentine construction industry, finds him work as a large crane operator.
Rulo is dating Adriana (Adriana Aizemberg
), who runs a sandwich shop.
He lands a job as an excavating machine operator in distant Patagonia
. The workers live in a remote farmhouse and the relationship between management and labor is difficult.
One day the workers are not fed during lunch so they refuse to work until they eat. Rulo soon discovers that making a fresh start at a late age proves to be harder than he first thought.
fashion, used extras and bit players when he filmed.
The picture was screened at various film festivals, including: the Sundance Film Festival
, Colorado
, USA; the International Film Festival Rotterdam
, Netherlands
; the Fribourg Film Festival, Switzerland
; the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema
, Argentina; the New Directors/New Films, New York
; and others.
, liked the look and tone of the film and wrote, "[the picture] is a stylistic throwback to 1940s Italian neo-realism. The movie's grainy, sepia-toned cinematography and low-key naturalistic performances by a cast of nonprofessionals enhance its slice-of-life authenticity."
Film critic Diego Lerer, a member of FIPRESCI
, wrote an extensive essay about director Pablo Trapero's cinema films. He reviewed Mundo grúa favorably and believes Trapero's film is advancing the "New Argentina Cinema Wave" and his films continues to break away from the older Argentine storytelling. He wrote, "Trapero's film dared to break even freer from the classic narrative models. Even though the film has a story, and one that advances with utter efficiency, Crane World respects the characters' internal rhythm like none of the other films by young Argentines had done so far...In Trapero's film, the scenes are developed in all their length."
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, written and directed by Pablo Trapero
Pablo Trapero
Pablo Trapero is an Argentine film producer, editor and director.His films are known for portraying the lives of ordinary people, and usually involving some form of social criticism to modern society, such as his movie Mundo Grúa , or the highly-acclaimed El...
. The film was produced by Lita Stantic
Lita Stantic
Élida Stantic , and more commonly known and credited as Lita Stantic, is an Argentine cinema producer, screenplay writer, and director....
and Pablo Trapero. It features Luis Margani
Luis Margani
-Filmography:* Negocios * Mundo Grúa Crane World* Una noche con Sabrina Love aka A Night with Sabrina Love* La Fiebre del Loco aka Loco Fever* La Fuga aka The Escape...
, Adriana Aizemberg
Adriana Aizemberg
Adriana Aizemberg is an Argentine film and television actress.She has appeared in film since the year 1967 making her debut in El ABC del amor making some sixteen appearances to date....
, Daniel Valenzuela
Daniel Valenzuela
Daniel Valenzuela , is a prolific film and television actor. He has also done some screenplay writing. He works in the cinema of Argentina....
, among others.
The movie was partly funded by Argentina's INCAA
INCAA
The National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts is an Argentine government film production company in Buenos Aires. It promotes the Argentine film industry by funding qualified Argentine film production companies.-Ratings:...
.
The picture is about working class life in Argentina that's gritty (filmed in sepia, black and white). The film follows the fortunes in the life of Rulo, an unemployed suburban man, who tries to earn a living as a crane operator in Buenos Aires.
Plot
Luis Margani
-Filmography:* Negocios * Mundo Grúa Crane World* Una noche con Sabrina Love aka A Night with Sabrina Love* La Fiebre del Loco aka Loco Fever* La Fuga aka The Escape...
), a moderately successful musician in the 1970s.
Today he's divorced and an unemployed forty-something day-laborer living in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
in the late 1990s. He's anxious for whatever work he can find. He lives with his son who's also musically inclined, and his mother (Graciana Chironi
Graciana Chironi
Graciana Abraciano de Chironi is a film actor.Chironi is the grandmother of well-known Argentine director Pablo Trapero.She works in the cinema of Argentina.-Filmography:* Negocios * Mundo grúa aka Crane World...
).
His best friend Torres (Daniel Valenzuela
Daniel Valenzuela
Daniel Valenzuela , is a prolific film and television actor. He has also done some screenplay writing. He works in the cinema of Argentina....
), who has connections in the Argentine construction industry, finds him work as a large crane operator.
Rulo is dating Adriana (Adriana Aizemberg
Adriana Aizemberg
Adriana Aizemberg is an Argentine film and television actress.She has appeared in film since the year 1967 making her debut in El ABC del amor making some sixteen appearances to date....
), who runs a sandwich shop.
He lands a job as an excavating machine operator in distant Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
. The workers live in a remote farmhouse and the relationship between management and labor is difficult.
One day the workers are not fed during lunch so they refuse to work until they eat. Rulo soon discovers that making a fresh start at a late age proves to be harder than he first thought.
Cast
- Luis MarganiLuis Margani-Filmography:* Negocios * Mundo Grúa Crane World* Una noche con Sabrina Love aka A Night with Sabrina Love* La Fiebre del Loco aka Loco Fever* La Fuga aka The Escape...
as Rulo - Adriana AizembergAdriana AizembergAdriana Aizemberg is an Argentine film and television actress.She has appeared in film since the year 1967 making her debut in El ABC del amor making some sixteen appearances to date....
as Adriana - Daniel ValenzuelaDaniel ValenzuelaDaniel Valenzuela , is a prolific film and television actor. He has also done some screenplay writing. He works in the cinema of Argentina....
as Torres - Rolly Serrano as Walter
- Graciana ChironiGraciana ChironiGraciana Abraciano de Chironi is a film actor.Chironi is the grandmother of well-known Argentine director Pablo Trapero.She works in the cinema of Argentina.-Filmography:* Negocios * Mundo grúa aka Crane World...
as Rulo's mother - Federico Esquerro as Claudio
- Alejandro Zucco as Zucco
- Alfonso Rementería
Casting
Pablo Trapero, in neo-realistNeorealism (art)
In art, neorealism was established by the ex-Camden Town Group painters Charles Ginner and Harold Gilman at the beginning of World War I. They set out to explore the spirit of their age through the shapes and colours of daily life...
fashion, used extras and bit players when he filmed.
Distribution
The film opened in Argentina on June 17, 1999. Later it was presented at the Toronto Film Festival on September 17, 1999.The picture was screened at various film festivals, including: the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, USA; the International Film Festival Rotterdam
International Film Festival Rotterdam
The International Film Festival Rotterdam is an annual film festival held in various cinemas in Rotterdam, Netherlands held at the end of January. It is approximately comparable in size to other major European festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Locarno...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
; the Fribourg Film Festival, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
; the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema
Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema
The Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente is an international festival of independent films organized each year in the month of April, in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.The festival is managed by the Ministerio de Cultura del Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, it is not...
, Argentina; the New Directors/New Films, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
; and others.
Critical reception
Film critic Stephen Holden, film critic for The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, liked the look and tone of the film and wrote, "[the picture] is a stylistic throwback to 1940s Italian neo-realism. The movie's grainy, sepia-toned cinematography and low-key naturalistic performances by a cast of nonprofessionals enhance its slice-of-life authenticity."
Film critic Diego Lerer, a member of FIPRESCI
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
, wrote an extensive essay about director Pablo Trapero's cinema films. He reviewed Mundo grúa favorably and believes Trapero's film is advancing the "New Argentina Cinema Wave" and his films continues to break away from the older Argentine storytelling. He wrote, "Trapero's film dared to break even freer from the classic narrative models. Even though the film has a story, and one that advances with utter efficiency, Crane World respects the characters' internal rhythm like none of the other films by young Argentines had done so far...In Trapero's film, the scenes are developed in all their length."
Wins
- Venice Film FestivalVenice Film FestivalThe Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
: 'Cult Network Italia' Prize; Anicaflash Prize; both for Pablo Trapero; 1999. - Havana Film FestivalHavana Film FestivalThe Havana Film Festival is a Cuban festival that focuses on the promotion of Spanish-language filmmakers. It is also known in Spanish as Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana, and in English as Festival of New Latinamerican Cinema of La Havana.The festival takes place...
: Special Jury Prize; Pablo Trapero; 1999. - Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent CinemaBuenos Aires International Festival of Independent CinemaThe Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente is an international festival of independent films organized each year in the month of April, in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.The festival is managed by the Ministerio de Cultura del Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, it is not...
: Best Actor, Luis Margani; Best Director and OCIC Special Award, Pablo Trapero; 1999. - Fribourg International Film Festival: Don Quixote Award; Ecumenical Jury Award; FIPRESCIFIPRESCIThe International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
Prize, For a first feature film offering a direct and truthful look at a personal strive for a decent life and solidarity; SAA Script Award; all for Pablo Trapero; 2000. - Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor; Best First Film, Pablo Trapero; Best New Actor, Luis Margani; Best Supporting Actress, Adriana Aizemberg; 2000.
- Rotterdam International Film Festival: FIPRESCIFIPRESCIThe International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
Prize Tiger Competition, Pablo Trapero, For the sober and coherent realism with which it portrays the main character's humanity; Tiger Award, Pablo Trapero; 2000. - Toulouse Latin America Film Festival: Grand Prix, Pablo Trapero; 2000.
Nominations
- Valladolid International Film Festival: Golden Spike, Pablo Trapero; 1999.
- Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema: Best Film, Pablo Trapero; 1999.
- Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor, Best Director, Pablo Trapero; Best Film; Best Original Screenplay, Pablo Trapero; 2000.
- Goya AwardsGoya AwardsThe Goya Awards, known in Spanish as los Premios Goya, are Spain's main national film awards, considered by many in Spain, and internationally, to be the Spanish equivalent of the American Academy Awards....
: Goya, Best Spanish Language Foreign Film, Pablo Trapero, Argentina; 2000.
External links
- Crane World at the cinenacional.comCinenacional.comCinenacional.com is a web portal and web-based database about Argentine cinema.The site provides a vast array of information, including: films, television programs, directors, actors, cinematographers, film editors, production designers, and other production professions in Argentina...
- Crane World review at Cineismo by Guillermo Ravaschino
- Crane World review at La Butaca by Ismael Alonso
- Mundo grúa film clip at You Tube