La niña santa (2004)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Lucrecia Martel

Writers:

Juan Pablo Domenech (contributing writer)
Lucrecia Martel (written by)

Release Date:

6 May 2004 (Argentina)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

16-year-old Amalia (Alche) looks to save the soul a middle-aged doctor (Belloso).

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Teen | Doctor | Lesbian Kiss | Schoolgirl Crush

Awards:

3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Mercedes Morán	...	Helena
Carlos Belloso	...	Dr. Jano
Alejandro Urdapilleta	...	Freddy
María Alche	...	Amalia
Julieta Zylberberg	...	Josefina
Mía Maestro	...	Inés
Marta Lubos	...	Mirta
Arturo Goetz	...	Dr. Vesalio
Alejo Mango	...	Dr. Cuesta
Mónica Villa	...	Madre de Josefina
Leandro Stivelman	...	Julian
Manuel Schaller	...	Thermin player
Miriam Diaz	...	Miriam
Rodolfo Cejas	...	Josefina's father
Maria Victoria Mosca Coll	...	Local girl

Also Known As:

The Holy Girl (International: English title) (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexual content and brief nudity.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Argentina | Italy | Netherlands | Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Austria:12 | Belgium:KT | Canada:PG | Italy:T | USA:R (certificate #41466) | Argentina:13 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | France:U | UK:15 | Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

Salta, Argentina

Company:

La Pasionaria S.r.l.

Soundtrack:

Cara de Gitana

Stunning and disturbing!

Director and co-writer, Lucrecia Martel (Argentina, 1966), has certainly re-written the Lolita story. But this time, the older male finds a more complex younger female in his way. The world is small and certainly claustrophobic, mainly a hotel with mineral baths somewhere in the Santiago del Estero region in Argentina called Las Termas. Tourists come and go into this hotel where all employees form a kind of extended family. Amalia, played by María Alché,is a 15 year-old immersed in the study of catechism and sexual awakening. The great question becomes that of vocation, "what does God wishes me to do." Dr. Jano, played by Carlos Belloso, attends a professional medical conference at Las Termas and engages in improper sexual conduct in a public street of the small town. Once discovered by Amalia, his remorse grows as things become more and more entangled. Amalia and Dr. Jano engage in a mesmerizing game of hide and seek, of desire to redeem and fear of the consequences of losing anonymity.

La niña santa is a haunting film, beautifully shot and full of complex nuances as well as tension. It left me with a sense of "what happened here?" Regarding its director, Pedro Almodovar (one of the film's executive producers) as said that she knows is part of his list of favorite film directors. Perhaps he sees in Martel's work the subtleties that he himself lacks.