First Impressions
This is a film that I wanted to watch for ages but it took me a really long time to get round to it. When I did it was well worth it and I would thoroughly recommend this film to anyone who is not daunted by subtitles or big issues.
Summary
María Álvarez (Catalina ... Read review
Maria Alvarez (Catalina Sandino) a bright spirited 17-year old lives with three ... more
generations of her family in a cramped house in rural Colombia. Desperate to leave her job stripping thorns from flowers in a rose plantation Maria accepts a lucrative ...
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Maria Alvarez (Catalina Sandino Moreno), a bright, spirited 17-year-old, lives with three ... more
generations ofher family in a cramped house in rural colombia.Desperate to leave her job stripping thorns from flowers in a rose plantation, Maria accepts a lucrative offerto transport packets of heroin-which she must swallow-to the United States. The ruthless world of international drug trafficking proves to be more than Maria bargained for. She becomes ultimately entangled with both drug cartels and immigration officials.The dramtic thriller builds toward a conclusion so powerful and revealing it could only be basedon a thousand true stories.
Desperate to escape from her banal life in rural Colombia, seventeen year old Maria ... more
Alvarez accepts a job of transporting heroin into the United States. Things soon spiral out of control, however, as she finds herself caught up with both drug lords and immigration officials...
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Advantages: well acted and interesting topic matter Disadvantages: ending is very open
First Impressions
This is a film that I wanted to watch for ages but it took me a really long time to get round to it. When I did it was well worth it and I would thoroughly recommend this film to anyone who is not daunted by subtitles or big issues.
Summary
María Álvarez (Catalina Sandino Moreno) is a poor girl living in Columbia she has a job taking the thorns off roses in a local factory. Her mother ... ...work in order to support the family and buy medicine for her sister's baby. When she becomes pregnant she panics realising that she does not love, or want to marry her boyfriend. To try and escape her lot she takes on a risky and dangerous job smuggling drugs into America.
And this is where the summary stops because I don't want to spoil it, but let me tell you that this is when it starts to get really interesting.
This is a film that I wanted to watch for ages but it took me a really long time to get round to it. When I did it was well worth it and I would thoroughly recommend this film to anyone who is not daunted by subtitles or big issues.
Summary
María Álvarez (Catalina Sandino Moreno) is a poor girl living in Columbia she has a job taking the thorns off roses in a local factory. Her mother and sister take her for granted and expect her to work in order to support the family and buy medicine for her sister's baby. When she becomes pregnant she panics realising that she does not love, or want to marry her boyfriend. To try and escape her lot she takes on a risky and dangerous job smuggling drugs into America.
And this is where the summary stops because I don't want to spoil it, but let me tell you that this is when it starts to get really interesting.
This movie is based on 100s of true stories which the director Joshua Marston researched over many years. Marston is an American and interestingly does not speak Spanish fluently so how he managed to create such a brilliant movie entirely in Spanish is beyond me!
What I love about this movie is that it does not try to be a typical movie with a happily-ever-after ending. It highlights the serious problem of drug trafficking and serious issues such as the tremendous poverty of so many in South America and it is not afraid to show that these problems are ongoing. It does not try to solve the problems or even pretend that the characters will have better lives because of the changes that take place in the movie. But like I said earlier- this film is based on real life stories.
The film is well acted and does not rely on special effects or a massive budget. Instead the strengths of this film are a strong plot, talented actors and interesting subject matter. Overall I'd thoroughly recommend this film and not put off watching it as long as I did!
Advantages: Realistic, not overly sentimental Disadvantages: Gruesome and sad at times
...film to watch. The perils Maria has to face are all too realistic, and the potential pitfalls e.g. internal poisoning, incarceration, and mafioso, are all depicted in an accurate manner with emphasis on suspense. The acting, particularly from the lead, Catalina Sandina Moreno, is absolutely flawless, and Maria's courage, naivety and, ultimately, strong sense of morality make for a deeply affecting portrayal. ...
sparklya 06.01.2006
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Maria Full Of Grace (DVD)
Desperate to escape from her banal life in rural Colombia, seventeen year old Maria Alvarez accepts a job of transporting heroin into the United States. Things soon spiral out of control, however, as she finds herself caught up with both drug lords and immigration officials...
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
Icon Home Entertainment; Warner Home Video, ICON HOME ENTERTAINMENT
A triumphant performance by Cataline Sandino Moreno (Entertainment Weekly, )
Stunning...a powerhouse film (Rolling Stone, )
Mesmerising. (The Mirror, )
Riveting. (Total Film, )
, Stunning...a powerhouse film (Rolling Stone, 20/06/2008)
DVD Description
This debut feature film by Joshua Marston tells the suspenseful and absorbing story of Maria, a poor, pregnant Columbian teenager (Catalina Sandina Moreno) with a soul-crushing job at a flower plantation and a rebellious streak. Her multigenerational, all-female family relies too much on her as the principle breadwinner, squandering her earnings on medicines of questionable value for her sister's baby. This drives Maria to quit, dump her immature boyfriend, and go to Bogota where she tumbles into work as a drug mule. Like thousands of real-life Columbians, she earns money by flying to New York City with up to a kilogram of tightly wrapped heroin pellets in her stomach, risking prison or worse: instant death should even one of the pellets break open inside her. Marston based the film on actual interviews with airport customs agents and former mules; the result is an authentic, intensely cinematic experience. The camera wrings vivid colour and mood from the many on-location settings and doesn't shy away from any aspect of Maria's journey, making this succeed as a suspense film, character study, and detailed examination of a rarely seen aspect of the drug wars. Thanks to the superb performance and charisma of lead actress Moreno--in her film debut--the audience stays riveted to her plight every step of the way. MARIA FULL OF GRACE made its debut at Sundance where it won the Audience Drama Award.
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