“THIS FILM CLEANS UP”
Starring: Catalina Saavedra , Claudia Celedón (Pilar), Alejandro Goic (Mundo), Andrea GarcÃa-Huidobro (Camila), Mariana Loyola (Lucy) and AgustÃn Silva (Lucas)
Directed by: Sebastián Silva
MPAA Rating: Unrated but contains language, nudity and adult situations
Genre: Art/Foreign and Drama (English Subtitles)
Release Date: January 2010
By John Delia
The foreign Indie The Maid takes a fun quirky look at domestic help from a real life happening. Directed by Sebastian Silva who lived it, the story starts out slow then delivers a bang up finale.
Raquel has been working as a maid for 23 years for Pilar and Mundo Valdez and has almost become a member of the family. She is very devoted to the children Lucas and Lucy, even though Raquel has been at odds with Lucy for sometime. The questionable relationship with Lucy could be several things touched on in the film, but it is certain that part of it comes from a suspicious closeness they shared when she was growing up.
On the occasion of Raquel’s 41st birthday she is invited to the family table for a celebration, but having served the Valdez’s for so long her reluctance to be a formal member of the group leads to a sudden anxiety. Feeling that Raquel is getting to an age were she needs more outside freedom Pilar tells her that she will be getting some help that would afford her more free time. Opposed to this measure as she feels that she is being moved out, Raquel retires to her room in a pensive mood. When the new maids start coming and Raquel starts getting them fired, chaos erupts in the household.
I liked the way Director Silva sets up the audience by slowly spoon-feeding what is really going on in the film. Each of his beginning scenes is somewhat lackluster, but when he started serving his personalities in heaping portions, I got sucked into the story gaining fond final rewards.
Acting by Catalina Saavdra is superb playing the deadpan long time maid who guards her household from any intruder that may take her job away. While at first I felt her character unwarranted in her demeanor, but as the film rolled out I came over to her side. Things start getting hysterical when Raquel meets her match and from then on the drama becomes a sincere satire on maids.
The Maid has not been rated by the MPAA, but it does contain language, nudity and adult situations.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A quirky little film that cleans up. (3.5 of 5 Palm Trees)
The Maid received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign film for 2009. The recent Gotham Awards gave “Breakthrough Actor” to Catalina Saavedra for her performance in The Maid.