A comedy-drama, La Estrategia del Caracol (in English, The Strategy of the Snail) focuses on the difficulties of the lower classes in Bogotá and how they are exploited by the rich property owners. The film has won a number of awards, including the Golden Spike at the Valladolid Film Festival, for its portrayal of the stark class differences in Colombia.
The film follows a group of tenants who have lived in the same home for a number of years but are now being forced out by the owners. The occupants try, by any means possible, to avoid being sent to the streets and to continue living in their home. The movie begins with a reporter interviewing a man about the circumstances that have led up to the present day. Depictions of the events are interspersed with the man recounting to the reporter.
While some parts of the film are more somber, such as when a young boy is killed during a shoot out between the tenants of a house and the police, the story line is mixed with comedy; for example, the ludicrous strategy and the tenants reaction to the apparent miracle in their home.
La película narra la historia de un grupo de inquilinos que han vivido en la misma casa durante varios años, pero ahora los propietarios los están echando a la calle. Los ocupantes intentan, por todos los medios posibles, evitar que los manden a la porra y seguir viviendo en su casa. La película comienza cuando un periodista entrevista a un hombre acerca de las circunstancias que lo han llevado a ese momento. Las descripciones de los acontecimientos se intercalan con los relatos del hombre al reportero.
Algunas partes de la película son más sombrías, como cuando un niño es asesinado durante un tiroteo entre los inquilinos de una casa y la policía. La línea de la historia se mezcla con la comedia, por ejemplo, la estrategia absurda y la reacción de los inquilinos al aparente milagro en su casa.
SPANISH LESSON
“…los propietarios los están mandando a la porra”.
This is the origin of the expression ‘mandar a la porra’: Formerly in the military, the soldier who played the major drum of the regiment used a long stick with a silver handle. It was called “porra” (“club”). Usually, this stick was inserted on the ground in a place away from the camp. It marked the place where a soldier should go when he was punished by arrest: “Vete a la porra” (“You go to the club,”) shouted the officer and the soldier indeed headed to that place and stay there for as long as the punishment remained. Later, the form of punishment was changed, but the term “ir a la porra” remained in the Spanish language with a distinctly pejorative nuance.
In this context, when “los propietarios los están mandando a la porra”, the meaning is “they are being forced out by the owners”.
Example:
“El juez mandó al abogado a la porra cuando le mostró documentos falsos”. “The judge sent the lawyer to hell when he showed him false documents.”