Stockholm Film Festival

the maidAfter 23 years of servitude, Raquel has cometo occupy a curious no-man's-land positionsomewhere between a mere domestic and amember of the Valdes family. When her employersdecide to hire another maid to help make life easierfor her, Raquel reacts with territorial jealousy,fearing she is to be replaced by the interloper. Witha critical eye that explores the social crossings ofhuman relations, director Sebastían Silva usesTHE MAI D to question the upstairs-downstairsdynamics of middle-class Latin America.

Up until its final act, THE MAID plays like ahorror film as it charts Rachel's increasinglyantisocial-if not borderline-psychotic-actions,born out of bitterness towards the familyto whose wishes her entire personality hasbeen submerged for more than two decades.As Raquel, actress Catalina Saavedra gives aperformance of impeccably observed detail,flawlessly balancing the scripts painful depthswith its elements of passive-aggressive comedy.Mixing handheld camerawork with staticshots, Silva sustains an impressive degree ofclaustrophobic momentum throughout.
LEE BLANCHARD

Orig. title

La nana

Cast

Catalina Saavedra, Claudia Celedón, Alejandro Goic

Producer

Gregorio González

Script

Sebastinán Silva, Pedro Peirano

Cinematography

Sergio Armstrong

Music

Pedro Soubercaseaux

Spoken language

Spanish

Subtitle

English

 

Other films from the Latin Visions section

See all the festival films from 2009