SOLAS A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ***
Like father, like daughter. 35-year-old María (Ana Fernández) is a bitter and angry single woman. When we meet her father (Paco De Osca), he is a mean-spirited grouch who is stuck in the hospital. He wants out, he informs his doctor, so that "I can look after what's mine." María's saintly mother (María Galiana), whom María barely tolerates, has come to stay with her while her father is in the hospital.
SOLAS, by writer/director Benito Zambrano, would have been more appropriately released in the United States under its translated title, ALONE, which perfectly captures the message and the mood of this slender but touching tale that feels like a short story brought to the screen.
María resents everything, especially her job as a cleaning woman and people with more money than her. Her mother points out that she was a cleaning woman and was proud of it. This only serves to further infuriate María.
A proud woman, María refuses to take money from others but isn't above stealing it from her friends. It is a twisted set of morals that she learned from her father. And like her father, she too is an alcoholic. As unlikable as María tries to be, she wins our hearts since you can tell that she is a sad product of her environment. Her father thinks that he was a good man because there was always food on the table. If he beat his wife "some," well, so be it.
The mother, who would only change one unmentioned thing if she had to do it all over again (you can guess what that would be), is befriended by a sweet widower (Carlos Álvarez-Novoa) who lives in the same apartment building as María. He is the man that the mother deserves but has no chance of ever getting. Nevertheless, they do share a few precious, if brief, times together.
If there is a quibble to be made about such a heart-warming tale, it is that María dresses and acts a bit too middle-class for all of her professed poverty. But there are no complaints possible about the performances, which are all heart-felt and moving. María's arc in the story, while predictable, is nonetheless poignant and honest. Correctly guessing her transformation does not diminish its impact.
"It's dawn," the widower says to his loyal German Shepherd Achilles, as they both look out the window. "God's given us one more day." He is truly thankful for each of his blessings. And you'll be thankful if you are fortunate enough to catch this lovely little story.
SOLAS runs 1:38. The film is in Spanish with English subtitles. It is not rated but would be an R for mature themes and brief sexuality.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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