An Ordinary Family 2005
Distributed by Cinema Guild, 115 West 30th Street, Suite 800, New York, NY 10001; 212-685-6242
Produced by Frederik Gertten and WG Film
Directed by Frederik Gertten
DVD, color, 58 min.
Sr. High - Adult
Latin American Studies, South American Studies, Economics
Date Entered: 06/27/2007
Reviewed by Martha Kelehan, Binghamton UniversityThe Borroni family lost nearly everything in the 2001 Argentine financial crisis. They went from a comfortable upper-middle class existence, marked by vacations in Europe and the United States, to being unable to make their mortgage payments. An Ordinary Family follows the Borroni family for three years as they struggle to survive. Eventually, they decide to leave Argentina to immigrate to Spain in hopes of finding work and starting over.
Although the Director, Frederik Gertten, does intersperse newsreel footage from the economic crisis, one is left without much context for how the crisis occurred. The film would have benefited from additional historical depth, permitting viewers to understand just how ordinary the Borroni’s story was.