In the Pit

According to a Mexican legend, for every bridge being built, the devil asks for one soul - just as a guarantee for the bridge's durability. In Juan Carlos Rulfo's documentary IN THE PIT (En El Hoyo; 2006), this old legend takes mammoth proportions.

Made of more than 17 kilometers (more than 10.5 miles) of elevated asphalt rising above working class neighborhoods, the Second Deck is a major urban project set to transform Mexico City. Although a major architectural structure, the most impressive information about this elevated freeway is the sheer number of lives that it impacts. As such, award-winning filmmaker Juan Carlos Rulfo went on to make a deeply felt documentary about the hands and minds behind the making of this work of concrete, steel and asphalt.

IN THE PIT focuses on the workers' daily lives. It invites us to witness their hopes, desires, faith and strength. One of the main characters is Chavelo, a crane operator's assistant. An unstoppable man, Chavelo is prudent, sensitive and, unlike many of his friends, someone of few words. El Guapo, an expert in tensing iron cables, is also soft-spoken and reserved. As he grows accustomed to the camera, he bravely confesses his longing for love and a new romance. Another worker is Pedro, a somewhat aggressive and aloof man who sings and swears with the same intensity.

Mostly shot in high-def digital video, IN THE PIT also features impressive time-lapse scenes filmed in 35mm. The music, composed out of sounds from the construction, helps create an atmosphere where the cacophony of the cranes, jackhammers, handsaws on wood, voices of the workers and songs form a singular musical story reflecting the drama of this enterprise.

“With countless Mexican workers laboring to build a massive freeway in Mexico City, filmmaker Juan Carlos Rulfo patiently focuses on a handful of the souls who might otherwise be forgotten among the working anonymous.” (Entertainment Weekly)

“For a film that depicts the filthy, dangerous work of building the second level of Mexico City's Periferico freeway, the unlikely beauty of Juan Carlos Rulfo's IN THE PIT is just one of the surprising complexities of [this film].” (Variety)

“Literally and existentially down and dirty, IN THE PIT is an absorbing documentary about work and the transformation of men into laborers. . . simply and elegantly revealing the secret human face of a seemingly inhuman world.” (New York Times)