Cinema – Carola knows how to help

When gold is in there, the ore always tastes a bit bitter. But if it contains copper, it has a somewhat sharp aftertaste, «explains Pacífico (Francisco Melo) of his 14-year-old daughter Carola (Katalina Sánchez) when he shows her an abandoned outdoor tunnel in which he suspects a gold loader. In the middle of the Atacama desert in Nordchile, one of the driest regions in the world. Pirquineros work in many small mines: Small Mountain or Schürfer in Chile are called, which reduce minerals in small groups and simple means.

Pacífico and Carola pick up four pirquineros on a junction in the street at a junction in nowhere, back on the pick-up with bicycles, then it goes over a dusty slope to the tunnel. At the beginning, you have to wait for the fourth Pirquinero, Humberto (Michael Silva), he is on his bike too late. Pacífico is annoyed, but Carola says to him: You can’t release him, otherwise we have Amadeo against us, then everything breaks. There are also dependencies, power relationships, richer families in the wasteland. Or right there.

The desert is wide, recordings from high up show the breathtaking panorama of a moon landscape, without trees, houses – red -brown sand and rocks to the horizon. In it very small the Pacífico and Carola pick-up with a huge dust flag.

When Carola’s father is injured in a shootout, she drives the pick-up to the meeting point of the Pirquineros. She has already practiced driving. Little by little she takes Pacífico’s place – to be accepted by the four miners as the boss is anything but a sure -fire success. First you refuse to work with her, then you challenge Carola: where is the copper veins, so Pacífico is always responsible for finding the whole rock. But she has the pick-up, the money, contacts with the buyer of the copper and says her father will be back soon. Everything is negotiated, nothing is safe. It has to get authority, give instructions, be strong. And Pacíficos wound doesn’t heal so quickly. He does not want to go to the hospital in Caldera – the staff should report a firing injury there, and Pacífico does not want to go back to prison.

The shootout is like the dialogues, which are like verbal duels, in which it is constantly negotiated who is in charge. In addition, far country, hardly any women, hardly any civilization. The right of the stronger applies: Yes, “Bitter Gold” is a kind of neowestern with pick-ups, engine and bicycles instead of horses. The entire action shapes the desire to free yourself from precarious living conditions. And break through the rigid patriarchal structures. The other Pirquineros see Carola as a sexual object, the drunk Humberto looks at her intrusive and lust, in a conflict she is insulted as a “little whore” when her father is not there. And her absent mother – the father is a single parent, so she has to live with him at the mine – is insulted as “big whore”. The Pirquinero Juan María (Daniel Antivilo), who stands next to it, does not protest against it, even though he is her uncle.

But Carola knows how to help – also when Amadeo (Carlos Donoso) claims Pacífico’s mine. Legally, the mine belongs to neither Pacífico nor Amadeo. But it is also not about the questioning rights, but about who can prevail against each other. So there is a showdown again at the end, this time a big one. Carola knows how important self -authorization is towards machos.

Bitter gold (Orig. “Oro Amargo”), Chile/Mexico/Uruguay/Germany 2024. Director: Juan Olea. With: Katalina Sánchez, Francisco Melo, Michael Silva, Daniel Antivilo. 83 min. Cinema release: August 21.