In The Pit

For the half dozen or so workers profiled by Rulfo, the prospect of death is just a matter of course, but the men display a vastly varying and often fascinating range of opinions on how to deal with life. On one end of the spectrum, there's "Chabelo," an unflappably good-natured man who takes everything in stride, quietly convinced that the right perspective is the key to happiness. On the other, there's the misanthropic "El Grande," who bitterly laments that real money in Mexico City is earned through corruption, and honesty "only gets you beans and eggs." In between are several other colorful characters, including a self-professed lothario who strolls around with a porno mag stuffed in his back pocket, and a "voyeur" who likes to proposition women from great heights.

One of the film's many ironies is that love of any kind isn't really an option: These men are married to their work, and the few that aren't have been through multiple divorces. The other irony is that almost none of them earn enough money to afford a car, so they'll never drive across the bridge they've spent three years building. To its credit, In The Pit doesn't hammer these points home too emphatically; Rulfo's simple strategy of sticking close to his subjects and allowing them to wax philosophical about their lives and labors pays off. His real affinity for them only surfaces in the final 10 minutes, when his camera soars above the semi-completed structure, awed at their achievement.

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