Maria Full of Grace

Maria Full Of Grace
Spanish Cinema Module

MARIA ALVAREZ,
PLAYED
BY CATALINA
SANDINO MORENO
Blanca played
by Yenny
Paola Vega
Lucy Diaz played
by Guilied Lopez
Carla played
by Patricia
Rae
Juan played
by Wilson
Guerrero
Javier played
by Jaime
Osorio Gmez
Franklin played
by John lex
Toro
Summary
Maria Alvarez is a Columbian girl who works in a flower factory where she is responsible for dethorning roses. She works here with her friend Blanca who packs
roses. Every morning she wakes up early to wake the bus to work. Although she is only 17 she already seems to be work a lot. However, this is something she
has to do as she lives with her sister, her sister's son and her mom. While her mom also works, there is never enough money in the house and Maria has to pay
for quite a few things including her sister's sons medicine and part of the rent. One day while at work she gets sick and asks the supervisor if she can go to the
toilet. He doesnt allow her as we feel that he would be losing too much money if he does let her go. Due to this Maria throws up onto the roses that she had
dethorned and is forced to clean them. After this, Maria quits her job which leads to an argument with her family as they need the money that she used to
provide.
She decides to go out to celebrate quitting her job with Blanca. While parting she meets Franklin and dances with him even though she has a boyfriend. The next
day, Maria goes to meet her boyfriend, Juan. She has something important to tell him. She tells him that she is pregnant. At first, he doesnt believe her and
asks if she is certain but soon enough he starts to believe her. He offers to marry her but Maria rejects this "romantic" proposal as she doesnt want to marry
someone who doesnt love her and who she doesnt love. After this they break up and Maria is left with the pregnancy problem all on her own as she hasnt
yet told anyone except Juan about it.
The next day she decides to look for a job. While waiting for the bus she notices Franklin on his motorbike. He offers her a lift which she accepts. About half way
through the journey they stop to eat something. This is when Maria explains to him that she is going to look for work. Upon hearing this Franklin thinks that
this is the right moment to recruit her and so, he offers her the job of a mule. At first Maria isn't sure if she wants to take this job, but after being persuaded
by Franklin she gives in to his manipulative techniques decides to meet Franklins boss.
At the bar she is interview by Javier who asks her questions about her health and her current situation. After the interview Javier lend her some money as he
knows that she needs it. After leaving the bar Maria notices one of the other mules and decides to ask her about the job that she was offered. Lucy explains
to Maria what it is that she would be required to do. She also shows her how to swallow a pellet. The next morning Maria accepts the job and is dropped off
by Franklin by a pharmacy where she swallows 62 pellets with Javier's help. After she does this Javier explains to her what would happen if she lost or
misplaced the pellets. She is then dropped off at an airport with all the necessary documents and cash for the journey to New York. On the plane she notices
Blanca who has also decided to take the job of a mule as well as Lucy and one other girl. Lucy than explains to Maria that this way, if one of them gets caught
its easier for the others to pass through. On the plane both Maria and Lucy begin to feel unwell. Although Marias sickness passes, Lucy's doesnt. When they
land Maria is detained by the police and questions about her arrival the US. They believe that she is a mule but cannot prove it as she is pregnant and an x ray
could harm the baby. Maria is lucky, and is let out by the police.
The second she leaves the police station she is collected by Javier's co-workers who question her about the other girl that was detained with her. When she tells
them that she was arrested they start cursing and speed of to the motel. While Lucy is getting worse all the girls are given medicine to help them get rid of
the pellets from their system. They spend the night there. Just before they go to sleep Maria notices that Lucy is losing her consciousness. She tries to help
her by placing her under a cold shower but Lucy is only getting worse. She tries to persuade the men to bring her to a hospital but they refuse.
Summary - part 2
The next day Maria wakes up early and sees the guys carrying out Lucy. She walks into the bathroom covered with
Lucy's blood after which she quickly wakes up Blanca and they pack their bags. They run off and get a Taxi to an
address that was given to Maria by Lucy. Maria waits here for Lucy's sister while Blanca takes off. Eventually Maria
knocks on the door is let in by Carla, Lucy's sister. Carla lets Maria stay for a few nights when she hears about her
current situation. The next day Carla bring her over to a phone box where she helps Maria to call her family who have
no idea that she is in New York. When they get home they find Blanca siting outside the door. Maria makes up a story
and Carla allows Blanca to also stay for a few nights.
The next morning Carla drops them off at her friend's office who is supposed to help them to find a job. He notices the
pellets in Blancas bag and questions the girls about them. Maria decides to ask for his help. She asks him to find out as
much as possible about what happened to her friend. After a falling out with Blanca they go their separate ways. She
buys herself some food and enters a women's clinic where she is examined by a doctor. The doctor checks that
everything is ok with the baby and shows the healthy baby to her. After making sure that her baby is healthy Maria is
given a date for her next appointment. That same day they she returns to Carla's friend, Don Fernando who shows her
a picture of Lucy's body. He tells her to Carla about it as arrangements have to be made about what to do with her
body. Maria tries to tell Carla about Lucy but she finds that she cannot. The two of them talk about their families and
Carla's soon to be born baby after which she tells Blanca about Lucy's body. The next morning Don Fernando calls Carla
and tells her about Lucy. In a rage of fury Carla kicks Blanca and Maria out pf her house. after this the girls decide to
return the pellets t Javier's men who give them their money in exchange. Maria asks for Lucy's money to be given to
her family but they simply run off. Maia then meets up with Don Fernando in a funeral ho e and pays for Lucy's body to
be returned to Columbian if thats what Carla wants. At the funeral home she meets Carla after which Carla decides to
let her say goodbye to Lucy.
After that Maria meets up with Blanca at the airport. Just before Blanca boards the plane Maria calls her name and
they exchange a single look. While Blanca boards the plane, Maria stays as she has decided to stay in New York to
secure her baby's future.
Review
Overall, I can say that I enjoyed this Columbian film, Maria Full of Grace, even though I didn't really understand why the movie
named like this.
I mostly enjoyed this film for a number of reasons.
Firstly, I liked the main character as I was able to identify myself with her on a number of occasions. For example, when Maria
got irritated that she had to pay for her nephew's medicine. Being a teenager means that now you have to help out even more at
home especially when both of your parents are working. Maria is also a stubborn teenager, always trying to get her way. In this way,
I think that many teenagers are able to identify themselves with her
Secondly, I really enjoyed the use of Spanish throughout the movie and was very thank full for the English subtitles as the
narration was very quick at times and would have made it very difficult to understand exactly what was going on in this film. It was
every enjoyable for me as I like to test myself and during this movie I got to see just how much Spanish I have learned in those
three years of secondary school. Although I wouldn't have been able to understand everything without the subtitles, I am quite
happy to say that I would have gotten the main gist of the movie.
Moreover, I also enjoyed the main plot of the movie as I am a fan of action movies. However, I didn't enjoy the drama aspect
that much as I am not that big of a fan of drama in general. This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy the drama scenes, but rather that I
would have preferred a bit more action. But thats just my personal preferences.
In addition, I have to say that the actors chosen to play in this movie have played their parts pretty well. The actress who
played Carla, Lucy's sister carried out her parts very well, even those more difficult ones like the more emotional scenes in which
she realizes that her sister is dead.
Another aspect of the movie that I found enjoyable was the use of show-not-tell at the end of the movie in the last scene. Even
though we aren't told that Maria is going to stay in New York, we can be quite sure that this is what she is going to do as she decides
not to follow her friend, Blanca onto the plane heading for her homeland, Columbia.
In conclusion, I can say that this movie was very enjoyable for me to watch and I would definitely consider watching some more
movies in Spanish with English subtitles.

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Spanish Cinema Module

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