Maria: So very graceful

After the terrible disappointment of the much touted ManU Arsenal clash, I decided to sit back and take my mind off the game. And what better way to do that than a compelling foreign language movie. I’ve been hearing loads of positive reviews of Maria full of grace that I decided to rent it on Netflix and I surely wasn’t disappointed with the final outcome.

The story is set in troubled Colombia shown through the eyes of an ebullient 17 yr old Maria Alvarez. She initially works at a florist factory separating thorns from roses. She is badly ill-treated to the extent that she quits her job even when she is one of the primary bread winners for her familia. Life takes a turn for the worse when she discovers she is pregnant with the baby of her boyfriend with whom she shares a relationship bordering hatred. The upswing in that relationship is that the feelings are mutual. Frustrated with her life in the remote town, she decides to move to Bogota and work as a ‘Mule’ (drug runner).

Her first assignment is to transport ‘Cocaina’ to New York. If successful, she would earn a fat pay-check of 5000$ which constitute to a zillion Colombian Pesos. I was startled at the way they’ve shown open drug transport from Colombia to the US. Maria is made to swallow small ‘Latex’ pellets filled with Cocaine. The obvious danger is, that if one of the pellets breaks inside her body, she would OD and die. The other is that if she shits, she would lose a few pellets and with that would have to face the wrath of the Colombian drugs lords both in the US and back home. The compelling story takes one more incredible twist where she is detained by the US authorities. They are of course aware of Mules and suspect that she might be one of them. They order an X-Ray to be performed on her to cross-examine their doubts.

I won’t go further into the story line of the movie to spoil it for anyone who decides to watch the movie after reading this. It is a very realistic story of the dreams of people from Latin America and their perception of US as the land of milk and honey. Catalina Sandino Moreno’s debut performance is just outstanding. The rave reviews and a debut Best actress Oscar nomination are richly deserved. Her subtle expressions, blank face in times to crisis and the joyful exuberance of a 17 year old are a treat to watch. Watch this one and you surely won’t be disappointed.

Rating 7.8/10