In the Pit

Anyone who has ever been fascinated by a large and complex construction site may find a kind of blue-collar bliss in Juan Carlos Rulfo's oddly affecting documentary In the Pit. From 2003-05, Rulfo trained his high-def digital video cameras on the construction of the “Second Deck” of Mexico City's Periferico freeway, a seemingly endless stretch of elevated concrete that's the iron-and-asphalt equivalent of the Panama Canal. Rulfo avoids conventional documentary techniques (statistics, historical background, expert testimony, etc.) in favor of intimate portraits of one particular construction crew: a mixed bag of vivid personalities, whose daily routines of dangerous duties, sexist and/or homophobic jokes, off-the-job dreams, and profanity-laced camaraderie, are captured by Rulfo. While In the Pit is most involving when exploring the personal philosophies that these workers bring to the job, Rulfo's passive approach leaves the viewer feeling that some interesting stories are being left untold. But the film's coup de grace—an astonishing, nearly seven-minute fly-over shot of the entire Second Deck in progress, accompanied by an eerily effective industrial score (by Leonardo Heiblum)—lends In the Pit an almost mythical air. Whether the massive freeway ultimately serves its purpose seems almost beside the point; for its construction crews, it's the building of it that brings meaning to their lives. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a stills gallery and trailers. Bottom line: a disappointing extras package for a solid documentary.] (J. Shannon)