An Ordinary Family

To survive in a bankrupt country like Argentina is an exhausting and dispiriting activity. The pain, misery and despair involved are conveyed very effectively in . But troubles do not only go from bad to worse. Apparently, people also draw strength from years of bartering their clothes and fishing gear for vegetables and fruit. Before 1998, the Borroni family was well-off. Mr. Borroni managed an oil company, his wife studied medicine and their three children went to private schools. Since the Argentine economy definitively collapsed in 2001, however, the family has been struggling to survive. Planning for the future has become very difficult. Every day, all members of the family help by trading goods and selling homemade empanadas. It is clear that the Borronis are only taken as an example to depict the terrible situation in this South American country. But whereas Argentine films like (Alejo Hoijman, 2004) and (Fernando E. Solanas, 2004) stopped at the troublesome situation, the Swedish director Fredrik Gertten looks ahead to the future. The Borronis sell their house and carefully start making plans to improve their situation. They take courses to be able to earn a living again later on, and their relatives in the Canary Islands are also willing to lend a helping hand.