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Pizza, Beer, and Cigarettes

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Wikipedia article




{{Infobox film

| name = Pizza, Beer, and Cigarettes

| image = Pbcposter.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Israel Adrin Caetano
Bruno Stagnaro

| producer = Bruno Stagnaro

| writer = Israel Adrin Caetano
Bruno Stagnaro

| starring = Hctor Anglada
Jorge Sesn
Pamela Jordn

| music = Leo Sujatovich

| cinematography = Marcelo Lavintman

| editing = Andrs Tambornino

| studio =

| distributor =

| released =

| runtime = 92 minutes

| country = Argentina

| language = Spanish

| budget =

}}

'Pizza, Beer, and Cigarettes' (; also known as 'Pizza, Beer & Smokes') is a 1998 Argentine crime drama film written and directed by Israel Adrin Caetano and Bruno Stagnaro and starring Hctor Anglada, Jorge Sesan and Pamela Jordn. The film tells the story of a gang of marginalized adolescents who survive on the streets of Buenos Aires carrying out low-level robberies. 'Pizza, Beer, and Cigarettes' is the film that's known as "the spark that ignited the New Argentine Cinema when it premiered at the international Mar del Plata Film Festival."[http://www.moviemaker.com/magazine/editorial.php?id=67 Shpuntoff, Richard]. 'MovieMaker Magazine,' "Dont Cry for Argentina," Issue #54, Spring 2004. It was filmed entirely in Buenos Aires.

Plot



This story takes place in an impoverished district outside Buenos Aires and follows a group of teenage delinquents and misfits: the not-so-bright Megabom (Alejandro Pous), the asthmatic Pablo (Jorge Sesan), the nerdy Frula (Walter Diaz), and Sandra (Pamela Jordan), the pregnant girlfriend of El Cordobs (Hctor Anglada). All of them are squatters living together in the same house. The group wanders the city and steal in order to survive. After letting go of their former employer, a crooked taxi driver who paid them a cut of what they could steal from his passengers, Frula and Cordobs steal from a crippled street vendor, which ultimately leads to Sandra being arrested.

Sandra, because of her pregnancy, starts to think about her future and the life she can make for her expected baby. When she is released from jail after a short time inside, she makes Cordobes promise he'll straighten up and find a decent job instead of stealing again. In the meantime, she stays with her abusive father. Aided by his friends, Cordobs starts looking for more profitable scores, so he can move to Uruguay with Sandra.

Frula arranges a job with his contact, Rubn which involves stealing a fancy restaurant with unreliable guns. Rubn drives them to the spot which turns out to be an ordinary place. The stickup goes sloppily and the alarm goes off, urging the five robbers to escape. Rubn cuts ties with the others after paying Cordobes a misery for his job.

Running out of time, the group decides to rob a local nightclub. Pablo and Cordobes get back in touch with the cab driver, only to beat him up and steal both his money and his guns. However, they grow fond of the passenger, a middle aged woman from Cordoba, and let her arrive to her destination safely. Immediately after being let out of the car, the woman discreetly calls the police, who begins tracking the stolen cab. Back at the nightclub, Pablo, Frula and Cordobes get past the bouncer and proceed to hold the ticket workers at gunpoint while Pablo acts as a diversion, with Megabom as lookout outside the club. The bouncer, however, barely manages to notice Pablo and Megabom switching guns, so he begins acting more suspiciously. While the others start taking the money, Megabom notices a policeman following them, and proceeds to bother him and damage his motorbike in order to create a distraction. When Cordobes gets out of the ticket office, gun in hand, he is shot in the chest by the bouncer, who is then killed by Pablo. Hearing the screams and gunshots inside, the policeman attempts to enter the nightclub, but begins to beat down Megabom after he hits him in the back. When Frula, Cordobes and Pablo get to the cab, Frula catches a glimpse of the bloody and bruised Megabom. Enraged, he draws his gun at the officer, but is quickly shot down. Pablo manages to escape carrying a badly wounded Cordobes and steals another car. He drives him to the docks and gives him the money, so he can leave with Sandra, while staying behind to turn himself in.

Crawling, Cordobes manages to get to the docks, where he realizes he won't make it to the boat. Reunited with Sandra, he is forced to confess he didn't make good on his promise, and tells Sandra she should go alone, for the kid's sake. They kiss farewell, and a dying Cordobes manages to get a final look at Sandra while the boat departs. When the police arrive, they find his dead body and inform the station via radio.

Cast



* Hctor Anglada as Crdoba/Cordobs/El Cordobs

* Jorge Sesn as Pablo

* Pamela Jordn as Sandra

* Adrin Yospe as Rubn

* Daniel Di Biase as Trompa

* Walter Daz as Frula

* Martn Adjemin as Taxi Driver

* Elena Cnepa as Old Woman

* Rubn Rodrguez as Rengo

* Tony Lestingi as Passenger

* Alejandro Pous as Megabom

* Marcelo Videla as Cop 1

* Gustavo Saenz as Cop 2

* Claudia Moreno as Prostitute

* Roberto Alvarez as Security Guard

Distribution



The producers used the following tagline to promote the film:

:'Four friends. One city. Only one way out.'

The film first opened in Argentina on January 15, 1998.

The film was shown at various film festivals, including: the Fribourg International Film Festival, Switzerland; the Toulouse Latin America Film Festival, France; the Montevideo Film Festival, Uruguay; the Gramado Film Festival, Brazil; and the Torino International Festival of Young Cinema, Turin, Italy.[http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-35661_ITM Gutierrez, Maria Alejandra]. 'Goliath,' "Bountiful rebound of Argentine cinema," May 1, 2004.IMDb, awards section, ibid.

In the United States it was not released as a feature film, but rather it was released in DVD format on December 27, 2005.

Accolades



'Wins'

* Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor; Best Film; Best First Film; Best New Actor, Hctor Anglada; Best Original Screenplay, Bruno Stagnaro & Adrin Caetano; 1999.

* Fribourg International Film Festival, Fribourg, Switzerland: FIPRESCI Prize, Israel Adrin Caetano and Bruno Stagnaro, for a first feature by two young directors who dramatize with force and without sentimentality the predicament of the teenage marginals of Argentina; and 'Grand Prix'; 1998.

* Gramado Film Festival: Golden KikitoBest Director; Best Film, Best Screenplay; Israel Adrin Caetano and Bruno Stagnaro; 1998.

* Toulouse Latin America Film Festival: Israel Adrin Caetano and Bruno Stagnaro; 1998.

'Nominations'

* Torino International Festival of Young Cinema, Torino, Italy: Prize of the City of Torino Best Film - International Feature Film Competition, Adrin Caetano and Bruno Stagnaro; 1998.

* Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor; Best Director, Bruno Stagnaro and Adrin Caetano; Best Editing, Andrs Tambornino; Best New Actor, Jorge Sesn; 1999.

References




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