La Nana - The Pearl

For over 20 years now, Raquel (Catalina Saavedra) has been working as a maid for the Valdez family in Santiago de Chile. Even though she's always offended with her gruff manner, after so many years she's somehow already part of the family. But lately Raquel can't fulfill her duties as often as her mother Pilar Valdez (Claudia Celedón) would like. Because she is constantly plagued by migraines and dizziness and has to take countless pills to get through the day. But Raquel doesn't want another maid in the house to give her a hand, as a new girl could steal her all-important job. So every potential competitor is put to flight with mean tricks. Only the self-confident Lucy (Mariana Loyola) succeeds in breaking through Raquel's rough shell. But for how long?

"La Nana - The Pearl" has won several awards, including at the prestigious Sundance Festival. Many of the awards went to lead actress Catalina Saavedra, who gives a really great performance here. But this is also where the film's big problem lies. Saavedra plays the sullen Raquel so convincingly that it's hard to feel anything like sympathy or even pity for the maid. Her psycho war against the daughter of the house, the reason for which is only hinted at, her sometimes very unfair actions against other temps (even if they are very amusing for the viewer) and her dismissive attitude towards any form of affection leave no room for sympathy to develop. By the time Raquel allows Lucy - and thus the viewer - a glimpse into her vulnerable soul, it's actually too late to turn the dislike for the woman built up in the first hour into affection.

Besides that, the almost documentary style in which the story is told is also a bit too unwieldy to appeal to a wider audience. But those who can get involved with the story, and who manage to revise their opinion of Raquel built up in the first half of the film by the end, will be rewarded with a piece of arthouse cinema worth watching, excellently acted and true-to-life narrated. And for such viewers then also applies: Worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp