Archive of films Work in Progress / En construcción
Spain / France
2001, 125 min
Section:
Variety Critics´ Choice
Year: 2002
A highly unusual record of the construction of an apartment block in Barcelona’s El Chino neighbourhood. This is not a documentary in the ordinary sense, but a dexterous compilation of 110 hours of material filmed over a period of eighteen months. In only his fourth film in 18 years, the director provides more than a mere descriptive commentary by presenting his audiences with a truly original film.
Synopsis
As unsung at home as Victor Erice, the helmer to whom he clearly owes a sizable debt, Jose Luís Guerín is one of the more idiosyncratic Spanish talents at work. Built around an idea which looks doomed on paper but which works brilliantly on screen - to record the construction of a building - "Work in Progress" is willfully offbeat but the docu´s potential pretentiousness is beautifully held in check by its warm, embracing humanity. Only Guerín´s fourth pic in 18 years, "Work" is a craftily edited summary of 110 hours of footage recorded over 18 months during the building of an apartment block in Barcelona´s El Chino district. There is no voiceover explaining who the people are, and no one speaks to camera - what they don´t tell us about themselves is as interesting as what they do. Jonathan Holland
About the film
Black & white, 35 mm
Section: | Variety Critics´ Choice |
---|---|
Director: | José Luis Guerín |
Screenplay: | José Luis Guerín |
Dir. of Photography: | Alex Gaultier |
Editor: | Mercedes Alvarez, Núria Esquerra |
Producer: | Antoni Camín |
Production: | Ovideo TV, s.a. |
Cast: | Juana Rodríguez, Iván Guzmán Jímenez, Juan López, Juan Manuel López, Santiago Segade, Abdel Azíz El Mountassir, Antonio Atar |