The Pope’s Toilet Released on DVD by Film Movement.

The Pope’s Toilet (El Baño del Papa)
Review by Filipe Bessa

The tagline for The Pope’s Toilet, the feature directorial debut of Enrique Fernández and César Charlone, ambiguously suggests that this is “a story about hope and other miracles.” And indeed, hope here is miraculous: it not only manifests itself in the most unlikely circumstances, but it also exists as an illusory force.

The story surrounds the visit of Pope John Paul II to Melo, an impoverished Uruguayan town near the Brazilian border. The residents of Melo are anxiously anticipating the benefits of this unlikely visit, not least of which is the money that the thousands of Brazilians rumored to be attending the event will likely spend. Most residents in this small town are well accustomed to dreaming up schemes that will deliver them from poverty and Beto (César Troncoso) is no different. He makes his living by smuggling goods by bicycle from neighboring Brazil, often losing his loot to unscrupulous customs agents when he is unable to avert them. If hope is a kind of miracle, it is the only kind Beto is familiar with.

While most residents plan to take advantage of the Pope’s visit by selling staples of the regional cuisine, Beto imagines the next step of that proposition; visiting Brazilians will also need a public toilet. Not surprisingly, the pursuit to build this toilet sets up the dramatic stakes that will define Beto. His crazed determination is endearing in moments of slapstick and gripping when it leads him to immoral behavior that jeopardizes his relationship with family and friends, but in the end he is caught up in a familiar set of circumstances that don’t do justice to these proposed nuances.

Similarly, his family and friends are interesting characters that are increasingly left to wander the margins of the story. But while the film fails to connect many promising elements, it is consistently charming. Trancoso’s engaging performance along with Charlone’s characteristically beautiful cinematography keep the story moving past its incidental bumps.

Though the sentimentality inherent to hope-is-the-last-to-die stories is present here, the filmmakers don’t hinge on these moments. They could easily have abused pity but rely instead on the truth of the characters in order to engage us. In this sense, the beauty of the toilet as symbol rests less in its sadness than in its practicality. And where a conveniently cheery ending would have banalized this truth, in the end neither spiritual nor material gains are tangible.

Thankfully, despite its lighthearted treatment, the film recognizes that the tragedy here lies in the fact that ultimately hope is for the powerless.

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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2fETiFojc4&feature=related