Season 5 This Is Us: Season 3 Saturday Night Live: Season 4 The Walking Dead: Renewed and Cancelled TV Shows The Devil's Miner View All Photos 7. They work long shifts in the Cerro Rico silver mines, braving deadly conditions to earn enough money to attend school. Daily the brothers go into the underground mining tunnels and tempt fate in order to gain a better life.
Through the children's eyes, we encounter the sixteenth century mine, where devout Catholics sever their ties with God each time they enter the shafts, because of the ancient belief that the devil, as represented in the hundreds of statues constructed in the tunnels, determines the fate of all who work there. Raised without a father, the boys assume many adult responsibilities and must work to afford the clothing and supplies vital to their education. Basilio believes only the mountain devil's generosity will allow them to earn enough money to continue the new school year.
Without an education, the brothers have no chance to escape their destiny in the silver mines. Richard Ladkani , Kief Davidson. September 29, Full Review…. A mesmerizing documentary both exotic and sad. May 19, Rating: This is social documentary at its best.
April 28, Rating: This beautiful, terrible story is not easily forgotten. March 22, Rating: June 16, Rating: March 1, Full Review…. October 25, Full Review…. July 6, Rating: May 18, Rating: May 11, Rating: View All Critic Reviews This documentary is about the 14 year old Bolivian Basilio Vargas who works in the horrifying silver mines of Cerro Rico. Folk myths in Catholic Bolivia tell that God cannot come into these silver mines.
Therefore, to be sure of the required protection in the mines, the miners pray to the devil since he is the god of these dark, dangerous and hellish tunnels.
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The viewer is not only given a view into the consequences of this religious struggle but especially focuses on the total dependence of Basilio's poor fatherless family on Basilio's strains. This leads to heart breaking monologues from the lovable Basilio who also appears to be extremely well-spoken and has a great sense of responsibility and dedication. The footage shot inside the mines following Basilio left me speechless and with an incredible amazement on how one could even work there for a whole week, let alone 4 years.
The images on the outside show a huge contrast with wide breathtaking views and mountains. These images however only occasionally reach the magical beauty of for example the south-American landscapes in The Motorcylce Diaries. Nevertheless a touching movie which filled me with great admiration for the heroic Basilio. This is a truly captivating and personal story of a year old boy struggling for a better life. My family and I watched the film, and we can not believe the treacherous conditions endured by these underage child miners.
Basilio Vargas and his younger brother should serve as role models for those of us who have ever complained about a rough life. Much to my surprise, a powerful sense of courage, faith and family exists, and the Bolivian culture speaks volumes on screen. These daring filmmakers have masterfully captured a forgotten world and made it accessible to those of us who will never have to set foot inside of a mine. It is commendable that they risked their own lives to bring us such reality.
Yes, this documentary is about poor, fatherless children who must work in the hazardous mines to support their families. I won't go into a lot of detail about the specifics of the film--you can find that in other user comments. There are multitudes of documentaries detailing the sad stories the less fortunate members of the world are forced to live every day.
What makes this movie different?
- The Devil's Miner.
- La Gran Alianza - 2012 (Spanish Edition)!
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- The Devil's Miner () - IMDb!
- Silas Fall Adventure.
I am not a filmmaker, but I think it took a great deal of wisdom for them to realize that this young man could relate the story on his own better than any amount of narration or scripted propaganda. Basilio is heroic, mature, a dreamer with goals and aspirations, a fatherless child, a father to his siblings, a breadwinner for the family, and he never complains about any of it. Watching this film makes you want to comfort Basilio and then get down on your knees and ask God for forgiveness for being such an ungrateful and spoiled Westerner. Somehow though, you come away from it wishing you could show it to everyone you know, and wishing you could tell Basilio how much you admire him.
It was fantastic shot, moreover I have been to that mines in and I was shocked by that fact, that children work in there: Your documentary brought back many of the experiences we had there, and I would like to commend you on how well you were able to bring it to life on the big screen. Thanks again for lettings us know about their programs. Congratulation to the camera and the directors who made this movie!!! The devil's minor is one of the best documentary I have seen yet.
I saw it's premiere at the Tribeca Film festival April 28, I wanted to see as many Spanish movies at the festival as I could. This film was one of them. As I read the description of the movie, I thought it was interesting. Watching the film, I give all respect and congratulations to both directors. They told the story of 14 year old Basilio, his brother and mother and their struggle to support the family so beautifully. I must say the film quality and shots were great especially under the cave. The way they shot the cave scenes, it made you feel as if you were Basilio working and walking inside the caves.
This film was surprising. Being Spanish and catholic myself, I had no idea people would actually worship the devil for protection under the caves. I found it very odd and difficult to understand how the people would go to church and worship God one minute then turn around and worship the devil the next.
Independent Lens . THE DEVIL'S MINER . The Film | PBS
Imagine working 24 hours a day in the USA and only earning 3 dollars. Imagine supporting 4 people on that. All that hard dangerous work just so that someone can walk to a store and buy that ring so put in their finger or earrings to wear in their ear. All the lives that are lost for that. I strongly urge those in the position to help those that are not as fortunate to do so. The shots that were filmed, the sky, mountain, people were beautiful. Thank you Kief and Richard for showing us a part of Bolivia many of us were not aware of and have not seen.
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Thank you for taking the time after the movie to stay and talk to us to answer question what we had. Chanceesl 22 December This is an excellently made documentary. The visual quality of the film has a fresh, live look. The beauty of Bolivia is contrasted with a horrifying story being told about the silver mines and miners of the Cerro Rico Mountain in Bolivia, a mountain called, "The Mountain that Eats Men. There are over 5, Indios working at one of the miner owned cooperatives on Cerro Rico, which has been mined for over years.
It is estimated that over 8 million have died in the mines. Most of the miners die in their forties from silicosis, a debilitating lung disease contracted from inhaling too much dust; others die from explosions, cave-ins and falling rocks. Each mine has its own evil god called a "Tio" a corruption of the word "Dio" a devil god that must be respected to avoid an early death, and to hopefully help them find more silver. As explained by the miners, the Tio was created by the so-called 'Christian' Conquistadores to quite literally put 'the fear of the devil" into them.
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They still worship and give reverence to the Tios. The miners know they will not live very long because of silicosis. One shot shows their graveyard. They know they are sacrificing themselves for their families; they feel proud to be miners, so that they can help their families, and Bolivia!
Contrast this with so many young people here in America who gladly sacrifice their families for their own self serving pleasure, and you get an awakening about how mature and heroic the narrator of the film, the 14 year old miner Basilio is. He narrates the movie. You can't help but get really drawn into the film. It's mostly the story of Basilio, his brother Bernardo and their mother. There are many touching scenes with Basilio interacting with others. He talks to miners about Tio, and to Bernardo about their dreams of leaving the mines.
He wants to be a teacher, and Bernardo wants to be a civil engineer. However, in order to make more money, he goes to work at a different and more dangerous mine, where the boss sees him as his pick to grow up to be a drilling master. He's actually condemning him to death, since the person who does the pneumatic drilling inhales the most dust and will surely die from silicosis. Condemned in die in blinding dust, dreams of living destroyed. As noted by others above, fortunately, Basilo and his brother were rescued from the mines by the filmmakers, and are now able to live full time normal lives away from the mines.
Film Review: The Devil’s Miner
Part of the excellence of the film is that it is in no way judgmental about its subject: It does not place blame, but leaves that to us as viewers. This is the way documentaries should be made, practically as tightly edited 'slice of life'. It's also the kind of film we need to see to remind us, that while we sit here in comfort at our computers, we are living off the blood, sweat and toil of the world's masses; standing on the backs of the poor, the exploited and the dead.
Check out the Internet for fact articles on miner's lung diseases. You'll be shocked at how many are dying not just in Bolivia or the United States, but also in China. Good documentaries like this one let the story speak for itself. I give it an 8.
There are a number of excellent films about children available. This is a new one, and certainly merits attentions. It is a very moving study of the lives of children who every day face a very harsh reality. These children work in the silver mines of Potosi, Bolivia, famed for the terrible acts of depredations perpetrated on the Native Americans by the Spanish colonial powers. This is both a wrenching study of kids willingness to do what must be done to survive as well as a fantastic statement about their strength and hope.