Maria Full of Grace
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Maria Full of Grace
Plot
New York-based writer/director Joshua Marston makes his feature film debut with the coming-of-age drama Maria Full of Grace, with a script developed at the Sundance Screenwriter's Lab. Catalina Sandino Moreno plays Maria Alvarez, a teenager living in Bogotá, Colombia. Along with most of the other able-bodied people in her community, she works a perilous job in a flower plantation. She wants to quit, but her large family depends on her meager salary. One day, Maria meets a smooth-talking young man named Franklin. He offers her a business proposition to make some money and travel. However, the task involves her acting as a drug mule and smuggling heroin into the U.S. Maria Full of Grace premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 as part of the dramatic competition. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, RoviReview
Joshua Marston's dramatically potent Maria Full of Grace could easily have been a preachy issue film, but the filmmaker's eye and ear for authentic detail and believable characterization, the exquisite lead performance of Catalina Sandina Moreno (in her film debut), and the typically crisp, immediate handheld camerawork of genius cinematographer Jim Denault (Boys Don't Cry) make the film an unusually tough and gritty slice of underworld life. The horrific situation in which Maria finds herself stems organically from her steely temperament and her desperate, unfulfilled circumstances. Moreno's assured performance conveys both Maria's tough willfulness and her underlying uncertainty. Marston's film is at its strongest in focusing on the small, fascinating details of Maria's life, as she gives up demeaning sweatshop labor at a rose plantation to enter the drug trade. The scenes of heroin being processed and ingested for transport by Maria in her newfound occupation are darkly fascinating, as are the excruciatingly tense scenes that follow on the airplane, and at the airport after Maria arrives in New York. Some elements of the coming-of-age story are familiar, but Marston's attention to detail and the film's effective naturalistic presentation make it all very fresh and gripping. ~ Josh Ralske, RoviCast
- Catalina Sandino Moreno - Maria Alvarez
- Yenny Paola Vega - Blanca
- Guilied Lopez - Lucy
- John Alex Toro - Franklin
- Patricia Rae - Carla
Credit
Yann Blanc - Art Director, Rodrigo Guerrero - Associate Producer, Orlando Tobon - Associate Producer, Ellyn Long Marshall - Casting, Marie E. Nelson - Casting, Jorge Valencia - Casting, El Barco Producciones - Casting, Maria Eugenia Salazar - Casting, Jaime Osorio Gomez - Co-producer, Lauren Press - Costume Designer, Sarah Beers - Costume Designer, Carrie Fix - First Assistant Director, Joshua Marston - Director, Lee Percy - Editor, Anne McCabe - Editor, Becky Glupczynski - Line Producer, Leonardo Heiblum - Composer (Music Score), Jacobo Lieberman - Composer (Music Score), Lynn Fainchtein - Musical Direction/Supervision, Debbie De Villa - Production Designer, Monica Marulanda - Production Designer, Jim Denault - Cinematographer, Paul S. Mezey - Producer, Alex Wolfe - Sound/Sound Designer, Joshua Marston - Screenwriter| Maria Du Bout Du Monde (1950 Film), Maria De La 'O' (1942 Film) | |
| Maria Félix (2001 Film), Maria Kliegel: Cello Master Class (2006 Film) |
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Maria Full of Grace
| Maria Full of Grace | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Joshua Marston |
| Produced by | Paul S. Mezey |
| Written by | Joshua Marston |
| Starring | Catalina Sandino Moreno John Álex Toro |
| Music by | Leonardo Heiblum Jacobo Lieberman |
| Cinematography | Jim Denault |
| Editing by | Anne McCabe Lee Percy |
| Distributed by | Fine Line Features |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | ‹See Tfd› Colombia United States |
| Language | Spanish |
Maria Full of Grace (Spanish title: María llena eres de gracia, lit. "Maria, you are full of grace") is a 2004 joint Colombian-American film, written and directed by Joshua Marston, who won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. Although the movie depicts rural life in Colombia, it was actually filmed in Ecuador. The title is a triple-entendre: a reference to Mary, the Roman Catholic figure; "grace" is a slang name for heroin; and "grace" could also be the name of the baby.
Lead actress Catalina Sandino Moreno was named Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in the 77th Academy Awards.
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Contents
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Plot
17-year-old Colombian girl María Álvarez (Catalina Sandino Moreno) works in sweat shop-like conditions at a flower plantation. Her income helps support her family, including an unemployed sister who is a single mother.
María becomes pregnant by a man she does not love. After unjust treatment from her boss she quits work despite her family's vehement disapproval. On her way to Bogotá to find a new job, she is offered a position as a drug mule. Desperate, she accepts the risky offer, and swallows 62 wrapped pellets of heroin and flies to New York City with her immature friend Blanca.
María is almost caught by US customs who are suspicious of her movements. She avoids being X-rayed due to her pregnancy, and they ultimately believe her story that the father of her child paid for her air ticket. The traffickers collect María and several other mules. The mules are held hostage in a motel room until they pass all the drug pellets. Fellow mule Lucy falls ill when a drug pellet apparently ruptures inside her. The traffickers cut her open to retrieve the drug pellets. María convinces Blanca to escape with her when the traffickers leave to dump Lucy's body. They abscond with the drugs they have passed.
María has nowhere to sleep and goes to Lucy's sister's house but doesn't reveal to the sister that Lucy is dead. Blanca soon joins her there. Eventually the sister finds out and throws them out. Blanca and María return the drugs to the traffickers and receive their money. María uses some of her drug money to send Lucy's body home to Colombia. They are about to board the plane back to Colombia when María decides to stay in the United States. Blanca returns home.
Cast
- Catalina Sandino Moreno as María Álvarez
- Virginia Ariza as Juana
- Yenny Paola Vega as Blanca
- Guilied Lopez as Lucy Díaz
- Patricia Rae as Carla
- Rodrigo Sánchez Borhorquez as the supervisor
- Charles Albert Patiño as Felipe
- Wilson Guerrero as Juan
- Johanna Andrea Mora as Diana Álvarez
- Fabricio Suarez, Mateo Suarez as Pacho
- Evangelina Morales as Rosita
- Juana Guarderas as a pharmacist
- John Álex Toro as Franklin
- Jaime Osorio Gómez (also co-producer) as Javier
- Victor Macias as Pellet Maker
Reception
The film was critically acclaimed amongst critics garnering a 97% approval rating on the aggregator site "Rotten Tomatoes". Its total worldwide gross stands at $12,594,630 ($6,529,624 at the American box office and $6,065,006 from other territories).[1][2] Moreno was praised for her performance and received multiple nominations for best leading actress including at the Academy Awards as well as the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
References
See also
External links
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