Roland E. Zwick "The Holy Girl" is an offbeat look at the thin line that separates piety from eroticism in the mind of a sixteen-year-old girl. Amalia lives with her mother and uncle in a family-run hotel which is currently hosting a medical convention for a group of out-of-town doctors. Amalia has been convinced by her religious instructor that she needs to seek a spiritual "calling" if she is to fulfill her duty as a pious child of God. When one of the doctors from the convention intentionally rubs up against her in a crowd (at this point he doesn't yet realize that she is the daughter of the hotel proprietress), Amalia determines that her "calling" will be the salvation of the man's soul. Thus, she begins to spy on the man, eventually arousing his suspicion and causing a great deal of trouble for them both. The problem is that Amalia, just beginning to blossom into a sexual being in her own right, can't avoid infusing lustful thoughts for the man into her spiritual meditations. To further complicate matters, Amalia's mother, Helena, has begun to have feelings for the doctor herself, completely unaware of the strange connection that exists between him and her daughter.Written and directed by Lucretia Martel, this Argentine film takes its time setting up its storyline and introducing its characters. At first it feels unfocused and unclear as we try to figure out who is who and how everyone is related to everyone else, but eventually Martel manages to bring all the elements together so that we become intrigued by what the film is showing us. Amalia seems like any other teenager who is trying to balance a burgeoning sexuality with the strong religious convictions inculcated in her by those around her, while Dr. Jano comes across less as an evil pedophile than as a pathetic middle-aged man who should know better than to actually act upon his perverse sexual impulses. And even though Helena is less directly involved in the main plot of the film than these other two characters, she is actually the figure on whom our interest truly alights, mainly thanks to Mercedes Moran who is lovely and dignified in the role of an aging, but still beautiful woman whose life seems to have lost much of its meaning in recent years (her ex-husband is about to become the father of twins with his new wife, a fact that does not sit well with the slighted Helena)."The Holy Girl" doesn't try to dazzle us with scenes of high drama or a sordid resolution, or even a resolution of any kind, which may frustrate the more literal-minded among us. It lets its story play out naturally, almost to the point where the movie seems to be drifting aimlessly from time to time. Yet, we stay involved thanks to the unusual storyline and the fine performances by Moran, Alche and Belloso. This isn't what one would call a major work, but it provides some food for thought about how we can't always control the events we foolishly and thoughtlessly set into motion (Amalia and Dr. Jano both learn this truism the hard way). It's a lesson, the film insists, that we heed or ignore at our own peril.

vmarthirial The first time I started to watch this movie was after drinking two beers pretending they would be enough to send my stressful day at work into the past and help me indulge in the simple pleasures of idleness.I couldn't understand anything of the first 20 minutes and falling sleep won the match. I didn't take this loosely the next day, first of all I speak Spanish and the language was not an issue, secondly, if two beers are making me so incompetent, AA in my area will be my next google search.So I decided to give the movie (and me) a new chance the next night. This time, though, no beer, volume all the way up and the intention of conquering a task with the eagerness that can come only from being defeated at it beforehand.Nope, still no good. This time I say the whole thing and I must say, this is the Iraq war of movies: A complete mess without justification.On purpose I will leave aside the cinematic details so I don't sound like a wannabe connoisseur (MS Word corrected this word, BTW) or a reviewer with some clout, I am just a disgruntle customer exposed to this almost comic levels of ineptness portrayed as a Drama film.Well, the single merit of this thing is that it has more scenes of people lying on beds than a porn movie (but in this case, they are not doing anything, just there… and still there…. There….forever). Secondly, actors don't do anything (again); they are just Argentinean mannequins whispering some absurd words in an environment that makes no sense with a plot that seems to have been written on the back of the check that founded this idea of a film.The trite recipe of inserting some shocking scenes on the film so they carry the chore of making the rest of the movie worth something, again, fails. The director shows almost a sadistic delight on keeping the camera 6 inches away from the unanimated character, thinking that this is enough to portray a study of human something (sickness, emotions, whatever because we never know at the end) and give a social commentary of something even more groped by intellectualoids: Religion and Sex. The time goes by and nothing happens, nothing is concluded. This idleness is way better than the one I was expecting from my two beers the day before, but this is not fun, this is a waste.Blockbuster now remembers me as "the crazy dude that wanted a refund for a bad movie he rented". Well, yes, I returned this movie, made a scene and got my $4.86 back. Is not possible that rubbish like this gets distributed and God forbids, other project got rejected or delayed. I know is not a fair world, but this is testing the limits.I will always support foreign movies, especially from Latin America, but something I can't support is to perpetuate mediocrity by implying that because the movie was produced in Argentina or that the director is a woman, or that the theme is so controversial, it can get away by overlooking quality, coherence or merit.The good news is that my drinking is not a health issue (yet). This movie is awful, drunk or sober.

rowmorg This is a difficult movie mainly because it attempts to reach for an elusive subject: the enormous power of women over men, in spite of their ostensibly inferior status.The story is so idiosyncratic that we have to believe it is drawn from the director's life, and it is told in an appropriately intense, hyper-naturalistic way.As the meaning of the film emerges, very slowly, like watching paint dry, we realise that one lapse into temptation by an elite surgeon could plunge him into public disgrace and destroy his family and his career. And yet, the object of his momentary lust, a 15 year-old, has no idea of his fate in the all-male medical masonry hanging in her grasp, while her mother flirts with him, equally unaware but for quite different reasons.The girl, Amalia, is receiving intensive Roman Catholic instruction, which is as peculiar and fanatical for Latin girls as any madrassah Islamic brainwashing is for boys. The instructor weeps while singing the canticles about Hell and Heaven, and impresses the girls that they will definitely have a religious vocation, and will recognise the signs. Amalia, however, has more belief in the work of her own fingers under the sheets.The superstitious cult fills the girls' heads with nonsense and Amalia seems to think at one point that she can console and even seduce her father figure. She may well be emotionally disturbed by the divorce of her parents, and the imminent birth of twins to her unknown stepmother.Her friend, meanwhile, is engaging in sordid anal copulation with her boyfriend, simply to keep him around, while believing she is retaining her virginity. That's the wicked work of religious morality.I'm not sure how much women like to see themselves depicted in this unglamorous light, so the picture may well not be a hit at the box office, where the purchasing decision is often theirs. Nor is the storytelling method consumer-friendly, showing no exteriors and building characters slowly and haphazardly.

rosscinema This film isn't about the sordid act that takes place on a young girl but rather how she handles new feelings that have been brought to the surface which she incorporates into her religious beliefs and uses it as a vocational calling. Amalia (Maria Alche) is a young teenager who lives in a hotel in Argentina with her divorced mother Helena (Mercedes Moran) and she spends her time going to bible classes and swimming in the hotel pool. Helena is also the hotel manager and her establishment is hosting a medical conference for the week and one doctor in particular is going to act in a very inappropriate manner to Amalia.*****SPOILER ALERT***** Dr. Jano (Carlos Belloso) is attending the conference and he notices a crowd of people outside a large window and he ends up standing behind Amalia and shoving his groin into her backside. Later, Amalia tells her best friend Josefina (Julieta Zylberberg) but not her mother and she vows to save the soul of this person as part of a religious vocation and ends up following him around the hotel and sneaking into his room. Dr. Jano becomes very friendly with Helena and an attraction starts between them but he's unaware that it's actually her daughter that he's groped until one day he's introduced to her. Amalia is going through a sexual awakening and while this puts her at odds with her beliefs she uses this for strength in her mission of Dr. Jano's redemption.This is only the second film by director/writer Lucrecia Martel and while Aregentina isn't exactly known as a hotbed in terms of cinema there has been some provocative talent that has slowly reared it's head and Martel arguably shows the most promise. The story in this film isn't about how a young girl gets molested but instead it's about how this event triggers a sexual awakening that collides with her teachings of the bible. One of the more interesting things in the script is how Amalia's attraction to Dr. Jano ends up with her actually becoming angel-like in her mission and also serving as his nagging conscience for his disreputable actions. With her half grin/smirk and solid screen presence Alche gives a thought provoking performance that makes viewers take notice and it will be very interesting watching her career unfold. Martel's script certainly doesn't consider religion as a way of avoiding the harshest of realities but it does seem that she wants her characters to be as realistic and complex as people really are in life. The character of Josefina is the perfect example of what I'm trying to explain in that her character is religious and wants to stay a virgin until her wedding night but she has a boyfriend and in order to stay that way she engages in anal. This is one of those films that stays with a viewer for some time and Martel's talent in direction and writing are the main reasons for this as she has emerged as one of the more interesting filmmakers to come out of South America in years.