[IAEP] [OT] the Pope's Toilet (Uruguayan movie)

[Yamandu Ploskonka]

Just finished watching The Pope's Toilet, a Uruguayan movie telling of 
parental sacrifice, poverty, relation with authority, dreams of the 
young and of the old...

Great movie, highly recommended if you want to have a better idea of how 
real Uruguayans live or survive, especially among the urban less 
well-to-do. Many elements I found highly accurate: the bar where the 
group of friends meet every afternoon, the neighborhood, small-time 
smuggling as a way of life for many - protectionism and import taxes 
make many "legal" imports unaffordable, thus Brazilian products have 
forever been a gray-area option, indeed considered by many as the very 
origin of the Uruguayan nationhood.

I could almost smell that house, those streets...

If you watch it, do notice the "need" of the daughter to go to study to 
Montevideo, how that is interpreted by his mother, father, peers and the 
"friendly" older lady, that one with a hint of ulterior motives, by the 
customs officer who is quite outright on what *he* wants... How much she 
believes in her mom's desire, that after she graduates she will come back.

Wife asked if I had ever smuggled when in Uruguay.  I have.
(to admit something like that sounds strange - us Uruguayans feel it's 
entirely normal, even the wife of President Sanguinetti shared her 
adventures.  Moreover, my experience was during an official school trip, 
where everybody came back at least with many layers of T-shirts - and 
chocolate!  I can say it was quite the bonding experience)