7 cajas

I saw this movie in a festival in town a couple of weeks ago, and i wasn't sure of what i was going to see.

I was hooked on the screen from the first scenes and never let me down. The film is about a boy, Victor, who works in a market carrying merchandise in a dolly. He needs money but hasn't got any jobs yet, until he gets an offer to carry 7 boxes with unknown contents for a 100 dollar payment, and that gets him into complicated situations where his life could be in danger.

The characters are very real, and the situations, some are funny, some are thrilling, but is an exciting story as a whole. I loved the camera work and the acting of the cast.

A very entertaining film, and a nice surprise from Paraguay.

In 7 Boxes you are taken to the slums of Ausución, Paraguay where everyone is trying to survive. Suddenly Victor is given a break, he is a 17 year old wheelbarrow delivery boy who is given the task to deliver and take care of 7 boxes. What happens next a series of unexpected twists and turns. This movie takes you to the underground world, where the chaos bellow the calm surface is uncovered. It is in Spanish mixed in with several dialects and all with subtitles. The movies themes are loyalty, adventure and what exactly will you do when you life is on the line. I thought it was really crazy how this underworld carried out their own form of justice and the strongest always seems to survive. Saw this film as part of the Atlanta Film Festival.

With both substance and style. Plenty of style here. We are taken through the maze of a large market place in Paraguay. And the plot – revolving around the main character (who is well played by Celso Franco) – is also a maze with many twists and turns. We are kept guessing as to what will happen next. The characters are all well done – and so are their interactions.

It's a swell film to watch with a reasonably good resolution. I can just imagine what Hollywood would do with this – pouring in loads of explosions and over-the-top gunfights. Instead we get a minimal exposure of violence – and instead of massive noise we get character development.

Victor is a teenage boy who works as a wheelbarrow puller in a market of Paraguay, he is been so obsessed about buying a camera phone and also being a Television star. Once he gets a job to deliver 7 boxes with some unknown content for 100$ which is enough to buy a phone. But the deal is that, he will only get the money once he finish the job. Things get messy along the way and unknowingly he becomes a part of crime.

Its a full of chaos thriller with some unpredictable turns and good performance. Good choice for those who explore something different.

This may be the first film I've seen from Paraguay although coincidentally it's neighbor, Argentina, has a highly regarded film industry that produces exception films. This film shows us, with it's imaginative narrative, a Paraguayan economy that is agricultural; marketplace driven; high income inequality where age (as in India for example) is no barrier to labor for survival. So what is the story? A young, high school age, man plies the market streets daily with his wheelbarrow asking shoppers & merchants if he can earn a few Guarani (the exchange numbers to US dollars will show you the inflationary pressures just to be able to afford a small meal) to haul their merchandise. His decision making shows a lack of formal education and his poverty shows a lack of resources e.g. even a cell phone. His only other exposure to technology is seeing a TV in a shop window where he imagines himself to be on the screen. Though a series of comedic and tragic missteps his dream is about to become reality. Acting, directing, cinematography, script, all on a low budget - well done!