Cant
Do It In Europe
by Charlotta
Copcutt, Anna Weitz and Anna Klara Åhrén
First Run/Icarus Films, Brooklyn NY, 2005
DVD, 46 mins, colour
Sales, $348.00
Distributors website: http://www.frif.com.
Reviewed by Kathryn Adams
Australia
kathy@pacific.net.au
"A visit to the cooperative mines will
almost surely be the most memorable experience
you'll have in Bolivia, providing an opportunity
to witness working conditions that should
have gone out with the Middle Ages."Lonely
Planet.
Travelers listen up. If youve explored
all the usual tourist haunts, seen enough
rolling green hills, castles, cathedrals
and historical sites to last a lifetime
and become weary of commonplace cafes,
galleries and fresh mountain air maybe
you are in need of a hefty dose of Reality
Tourism the new travel phenomenon
that offers you the chance to experience
unpleasant realities in areas
of the world which are politically unstable
or economically disadvantaged. What better
place to hit reality head on than the
Potosi silver mines in Bolivia? So put
away your spoon collections and grab a
helmet because were going down.
The Cerro Ricco (rich mountain) looms
over the city of Potosi, one of the poorest
cities in Latin America, and houses the
silver mines that were largely responsible
for the wealth and power the Spaniards
gained over 400 years ago. Millions of
miners lost their lives during this period
due to extremely harsh working conditions
and faced the dangers of inhaling toxic
fumes, mine collapse, and being run over
by mine carts on a daily basis. Amazingly,
nearly five centuries later, conditions
have not improved much.
Todays Bolivian miners still work
by hand in stifling underground temperatures
with little or no ventilation and are
constantly breathing in harmful substances
including silica dust, arsenic gas, acetylene
vapors and asbestos fibers. While toiling
in these appalling conditions, the miners
drink 99.6% alcohol and pack their cheeks
with coca leaves that they chew to help
relieve pain and ward off hunger and exhaustion.
A miners life expectancy is around
45 to 50 years if they manage to dodge
the mine carts that roar through the constricted
spaces of this underground hell-hole that
they believe is controlled by the devil.
And heres where you come in. For
$US10, the friendly folk at Koala Tours
can arrange for you to experience all
of this by taking you on a guided tour
of one of these small cooperatives where
you can see the workers in action as you
squeeze your way through muddy tunnels
thick with noxious air.
Charlotta Copcutt, Anna Weitz and Anna
Klara Åhréns documentary,
Cant Do It In Europe follows
a group of intrepid international tourists
on one such tour. After the bus trip from
Potosi to the mines the groups Bolivian
tour guide, a former miner himself, supplies
the tourists with overalls, gloves, boots
and helmets (no dust masks) and recommends
they buy gifts for the miners, such as
soft drinks, dynamite, or coca leaves.
Interviews with the group before and after
the tour reveal differing opinions about
the experience. One tour member said he
expected to see, "a health and safety
work nightmare." Some felt a certain
cultural awkwardness about observing such
hardship and came out appreciating their
own lives much more while others were
clearly looking forward to setting off
their obligatory stick of dynamite at
the end of the tour.
The film explores its topic from all angles
by including interviews with the tour
guide around his home in Potosi, the miners,
who wonder "God knows why they come
to see us" and the Director of Development
who says the miners working conditions
should not be improved and believes that
having the miners work under "more
authentic" conditions would further
enhance the tourist encounter.
This engaging film by these three young
Swedish film graduates is well paced and
absorbing. It combines the issue of the
exploitation of human labour with the
lighter aspects of tourism with ease.
The film could have benefited from audio
improvements but doesnt suffer because
of it. At 46 minutes running time this
is also an excellent teaching resource
that will provoke classroom discussions
on imperialism, post-colonialism, globalisation
and the complex issue of tourism in the
developing world. It raises these issues
without passing judgement, and is all
the more powerful and engaging for it.
So, how keen are you? The Lonely Planet
does include a Mine Tour Warning
alerting tourists to the risks involved
in taking this tour but states "if
youre undeterred, youll have
an eye-opening and unforgettable experience."
Best of luck with that, this is one gringo
that is opting to stay above ground.