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In the Pit

EMAILPRINTKino International

In the Pit reviews
61
10.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 11 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 3 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Documentary  |  Foreign

Written by: Juan Carlos Rulfo

Directed by: Juan Carlos Rulfo

Release Date:
Theatrical: February 2, 2007

Running Time: 84 minutes, Color

Origin: Mexico

Language(s): Spanish (with English subtitles)

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Sofia García López, José Guadalupe Calzada, Isabel Dolores Hernández, Pedro Sánchez Bernal, Natividad Sánchez Montes , Isahín Octaviano Simón, and Agustín Zárate Centeno

According to Mexican legend, the devil demands that one soul be offered up for every bridge built, as a guarantee for the structure's durability. In Juan Carlos Rulfo's internationally-praised documentary, this age-old adage takes on mammoth proportions. (Kino International)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

83

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The soft-spoken, impressionistic documentary (with a hypnotic score built from the sounds of construction) climaxes with a six-minute helicopter-cam view of the colossal structure to which these somebodies have been dedicating their sweat, and sometimes their very lives.

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80

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

With In the Pit [Rulfo] isn't advancing any totalizing theory, a treatise on transportation or an argument about alienation; he is, rather simply and elegantly, revealing the secret human face of a seemingly inhuman world.

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80

Variety Robert Koehler

Leo Heiblum's pulsating music and Samuel Larson's dense, fascinating sound editing rewardingly compliment Rulfo's electrifying visuals.

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75

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Rulfo's simple strategy of sticking close to his subjects and allowing them to wax philosophical about their lives and labors pays off.

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75

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Rulfo adds punch to his material with speeded-up visuals and an eye-popping, six-minute helicopter shot of the entire 10-mile project - which alone is worth the price of admission.

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75

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

Life on the freeway is hell, but what comes next for these workers might be worse.

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63

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

It's an interesting, if dissatisfying rumination on the working people of industry -- how they labor, how they rest, what they think and feel.

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50

Washington Post Philip Kennicott

What Rulfo needs, unfortunately, is what too many trendy directors forsake: some social context, some succinct voice-overs and some talking heads to put the serious issues (urban poverty, urban stress, environmental degradation, corruption) into perspective.

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40

Film Threat Don R. Lewis

Captures the building of the freeway as well as the lives of the people working on it. The problem is, the lives of the people aren't all that interesting and the freeway being built isn't either.

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40

Village Voice Nathan Lee

In the Pit's empathy feels strictly skin-deep, its insight even shallower.

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30

Los Angeles Times Alex Chun

Equally as perplexing as its lack of perspective is the film's overall shortage of information.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 10.0 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

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