Maria Full of Grace
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Movie Reviews of Maria Full of Grace
Movie Review: Powerful
Summary: 5 Stars
I think this is one of the best films of 2004 if not THE best. It tells the story of a young Colombian girl who takes a desperate action of becoming involved in the drug trade. Maria is an independent woman who makes a desperate move to find a better life for herself. She's not perfect, a little too strong-willed, rebellious, and courageous for her own good. The story takes us from Colombia to New York and shows us a part of the world of drug smuggling. The decisions Maria makes ends up affecting others around her and how she deals with the consequences are a core part of the film. Going beyond the story of the drug trade, the film also explores the meaning of being an immigrant to the U.S. and the choices one makes once in this country.
I agree with a previous review that said this film sometimes feels like a documentary. Part of it is I feel the natural performances of the actors, many of whom are not professional, and some who have just limited experience. One of my favorite scenes is one where Maria is having an argument with her boyfriend. You almost feel like an eavesdropper watching these two wrestle with their dilemma. It's a scene that could be happening in many places everyday. Both performances are outstanding.
Another great feature of the DVD is the director's commentary. I think Joshua Marston gives us a balanced look at how and why the film was made instead of spending all of the time getting into the nitty gritty details of the shoot like what kind of lenses he used and why this brand of film is better than that, etc. like some commentaries do. Not all of us are film school students. Instead he provides some information about Columbia, about life there, about how he found his actors, and what he learned during the making of the film.
Two other films I could recommend are: "Dirty Pretty Things", a thriller directed by Stephen Frears that looks through the eyes of desperate immigrants in London; and "Raising Victor Vargas", a low budget independent film dealing with Hispanic immigrants in NYC but instead of the heavy overtones of the drug storyline, it deals with themes of family and teen romance.
Movie Review: Authentic, honest, and powerful
Summary: 5 Stars
Director Joshua Marston made MARIA FULL OF GRACE on a tight budget, but the result is a compelling closely-focused film which documents a segment of the drug trade while managing to avoid the obvious stereotypes. The story centers around the unhappy teenaged rose-worker Maria, played wonderfully by newcomer Catalina Sandino Moreno, who agrees to swallow heroin for transport to New York in return for a big payoff.
The orchestration and consequences of a single drug run from Colombia to New York comprise the main dramatic content of this film. Throughout, Marston pointedly avoids the caricatures commonly found in the drug film genre. Maria, unhappy throughout, is nevertheless not on the edge of desperation when she makes her choice to become a drug mule. The Colombian drug lord is not the menacing figure one might expect, at least as he is portrayed interviewing Maria for the job and preparing her for her journey. Even the U.S. Customs agents in New York, conceivably an irresistible target for filmmakers with a "message," are portrayed as professional and sympathetic.
One is continuously struck by the detailed realism and honesty of the film; Marston insisted upon using only Colombian actors in the roles of Colombians (though he filmed largely in Ecuador), and the other small details of the movie are indicative of the extensive research that went into its making. That the movie made a profound impact in Colombia, where it premiered, testifies strongly to its authenticity. The story is powerful and horrible and realistic, but one can also perceive a hopeful optimism in it by the end.
MARIA FULL OF GRACE is not always an easy film to watch, and some of the more disturbing images are bound to linger on the mind longer than one might wish. Nevertheless, I could not give a stronger recommendation than the one I give for this movie. Every performance in this film is top rate.
The DVD release of MARIA FULL OF GRACE includes the original and international trailers of the film as well as a helpful and enlightening audio commentary from director Joshua Marston.
Jeremy W. Forstadt
Movie Review: An Indictment of More Than Drug Smugglers
Summary: 5 Stars
Painful and ugly, Maria Llena de Gracia is also a powerful experience of vicarious desperation and deprivation. The story of a village girl in Colombia whose family, novio, and job all fail her at the same moment. She rushes heedlessly into big trouble, which in Colombia can only mean the cocaine trade. Coke merchants and smugglers are not nice people; we know that, and to see this film as an indictment of their viciousness is only a fraction of the movie's content. It's also, and more importantly an indictment of the global economy, the Octopus of our era with far stronger tentacles than the railroad of the early 20th Century. The indictment is clear from the first scene of the movie, when ALL the young women of the community report for work through a high wire fence to the warehouse where roses are trimmed and wrapped for export to North America. There is no other work in the village, no subsistence, no options, no future. If it were in Mexico - and there are exactly the same horrible sweat-shops in NAFTAfied Mexico - one would have at least the option of illegal emigration to El Norte, but in Colombia, it's 'muling' drugs or maid service. Frankly, I doubt that many American viewers of this film really saw what it was about from the Colombian perspective. Stopping the drug traffic isn't just a matter of spraying lethal chemicals over the countryside or supplying arms and helicopters to the latifundistas who own the government, and it isn't just a matter of reducing demand from the two poles of American society - the marginalized Black and the overprivileged White - either. It's a matter of facilitating the recovery of a diverse local economy, in which most people can make a living and a few can even find opportunity without crime and violence.
The Spanish spoken in this film, by the way, is extremely hard to catch unless you've heard the rural dialects before. The "vos" forms are used throughout (vosotros in Spain, the second person plural) and slang is pervasive. Even my son, who went to public elementary school in Spain and who speaks like a native, had to have the English subtitles.
Movie Review: Maria Full Of Drugs and Desperation
Summary: 5 Stars
I have always said that HBO Films KNOWS how to effectively and rivetingly tell a story that is poignant and unforgettable without resorting to all kinds of gimmicks and splashy techniques.This is a crowning achievement for HBO and MARIA FULL OF GRACE delivers the goods (pun intended)in a taught and tense 101 minutes of well calculated story telling with real character angst.
Maria Salazar,supremely portrayed by Catalina Moreno,wants to get "out of dead-end Dodge"-here,it's Colombia,South America.From the outset of this film, Maria shows her feistiness and tenacity to speak up to her boss,her family and her boyfriend making her the perfect candidate for a decision that she will make that will alter her life forever.But this is not your usual situation faced by a two-month pregnant seventeen year old who wants a new life! She meets Franklin who sets her up as a "mule", a stubborn woman who has the courage and composure to swallow over sixty balloons of heroin and deliver them in her belly to New York City.The narrative never allows you to agree or quite disagree with her decision.She is young,she is desperate, and she honestly does not fully understand the immense risk she is taking.That is what makes this film so compelling and the character of Maria so rich;we simply cannot judge her.
The process of swallowing the drugs will make you wince and cower.The camera sneaks from face to face aboard the New York bound plane which also has three other Colombian "mules" on board.Your palms will sweat and you will feel the tension that these girls undergo.What happens next is up to you to find out.
No small wonder this film was so popular at the 2004 Film Festivals with it's numerous wins.It also received a Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination.
The film is in Spanish with very readable subtitles.The commentary by writer/director Jonathan Marston is insightful and fluid.The VHS tape is also excellent for purchase.
Very Highly Recommended!
Movie Review: Filled With Grace
Summary: 5 Stars
I really enjoyed this movie a lot. While it had none of the "slickness" that I am used to or normally go for in movies. It was also highly original and totally unpretentious.
This movie is about Maria a young woman of 17 years old who finds herself pregnant and tired of her dead end job in a flower factory in rural Columbia, decides to take a job as a "mule" ferrying drugs in her stomach from Columbia to the US, and the mishaps that happen there.
While she came from an impoverished rural background. The words "country bumpkin" never came to mind. Oh parts of her were ignorant...but she also had street smarts that most teenagers don't have. Her instincts for survival were extraordinary. It was amazing to watch her navigate herself around very tight situations would have paralyzed most other people with fear. She stands up for herself on several occasions but not obnoxiously so. What a refreshing change from the bratty teenagers that usually riddle movies. I thought she was a fine young woman and I completely admired her.
No one was played in stereotypes. I guess I (living up here in Canada) am used to seeing Hispanics played a certain way. Either as vicious criminals or poor people who are needed to be pitied. I am never treated or shown the pride that they have in themselves. From "Lucy" who is too ashamed to see her sister. To the drug dealer in Columbia who actually gives Maria enough money to settle her accounts, so that she won't be a liability. There were no one dimensional characters in the lot.
Of course I agree with everyone for saying that Catalina Moreno was terrific. She certainly deserved her Oscar nomination for best actress (should have won in my opinion).
This is a great movie and it is very uplifting and ended up on my top five favorite movies of 2004. I really hope to see more of Catalina Moreno down the road.