Maria Full of Grace (2004)

Director:

Joshua Marston

Writer (WGA):

Joshua Marston (written by)

Release Date:

2 April 2004 (Colombia)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | Crime

Tagline:

How far will she go before she's gone too far?

Plot:

A pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately needed money for her family.

Plot Keywords:

Drug Mule | Colombian | Money | Colombia | Stomach

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 30 wins & 22 nominations

Cast

Catalina Sandino Moreno	...	María Álvarez
Virgina Ariza	...	Juana
Yenny Paola Vega	...	Blanca
Rodrigo Sánchez Borhorquez	...	Supervisor
Charles Albert Patiño	...	Felipe
Wilson Guerrero	...	Juan
Johanna Andrea Mora	...	Diana Álvarez
Fabricio Suarez	...	Pacho
Mateo Suarez	...	Pacho
Evangelina Morales	...	Rosita
Juana Guarderas	...	Female Pharmacist
John Álex Toro	...	Franklin (as Jhon Alex Toro)
Jaime Osorio Gómez	...	Javier (as Jaime Osorio Gomez)
Guilied Lopez	...	Lucy Díaz
Victor Macias	...	Pellet Maker

Also Known As:

Maria Full of Grace (International: English title)
Maria, llena eres de gracia (Colombia)

MPAA:

Rated R for drug content and language.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA | Colombia

Language:

Spanish | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Ireland:15A | Mexico:B15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #40648)

Filming Locations:

Amaguaña, Ecuador

Company:

HBO Films

Trivia:

This is Catalina Sandino Moreno film debut. An anonymous admirer who had seen her in a play told her mother about the open casting call.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Maria gives Don Fernando the money for Lucy's family, she takes her wallet out twice.

Quotes:

Juan: [Maria's pregnant] Well, I'll marry you.
María Álvarez: And how long before you start seeing someone else?

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 77th Annual Academy Awards (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Porro Sabanero

Powerful and Real

In a small village in Colombia, the pregnant seventeen years old Maria (Catalina Sandino Moreno) supports her family with her salary working in a floriculture. She is fired and with a total lack of perspective of finding a new job, she decides to accept the offer to work as a drug mule, flying to USA with approx. seventy pellets of cocaine in her stomach. Once in New York, things do not happen as planned.

"Maria Full of Grace" is a very powerful and real movie about the lack of perspective in the life of teenagers in poor countries. The dramatic story takes place in Colombia and is based on real events, the use of poor people to transport drugs to United States of America. Once there, the poor adolescent sees a chance to join to the American Dream and give a better life to her unborn child and make money to send to her family. In my country, mules are not the problem, but the use of children, protected by law, by the dealers in the traffic of drugs. The story is very well written, and the movie has a stunning direction. Catalina Sandino Moreno has awesome performance and this film really deserves the nomination for Oscar and another twenty-seven (27) wins and twenty-one (21) nominations in Festivals. The title plays with the Catholic prayer "Ave Maria". My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil: "Maria Cheia de Graça" ("Maria Full of Grace")