Maria Full of Grace

In Colombia, seventeen-year-old María strips thorns from roses in the flower industry. She quits, learns she is pregnant and needs money. An acquaintance describes the work of carrying drugs: pellets to be swallowed, a flight to New York, customs. The film shows the process step by step. The subject is not smuggling but a girl's body being used as a container. How the pellets are swallowed, how many hours must be endured and what happens if one bursts are all set out in detail. The most unbearable stretch is the flight, where nothing happens, and that is precisely why. The form is unshowy and close. The camera stays beside María, there is almost no music, and violence is nearly absent. The narration never presents the crime as excitement. The interesting thing about the production is who made it: Joshua Marston is American, this is his first feature, and the film is entirely in Spanish. Catalina Sandino Moreno had no film experience; she came out of open auditions in Bogotá and became the first Colombian performer nominated for an Oscar. The film was also awarded at Berlin. Who it is for: viewers who like social realist drama and crime narratives that refuse sensation. Who it is not for: anyone expecting resolution; the film gets María nowhere and leaves the ending open.