GLORIA – The Review

Review by Dane Marti

Actress Paula Garcia literally becomes the title character in director Sebastian Lello’s fascinating and provocative new film, one of those exceptional films that could possibly become a big hit in the U.S. and around the cinematic globe, something that most foreign films do not accomplish.

The film takes place in modern Chili, an environment that this reviewer embarrassingly admits he doesn’t know much about. Although a character-driven film, enough of the city is shown to give the viewer a glimpse into a beautiful world. The film makes me want to learn more about this particular area of the world.

When we first meet Gloria, she is sitting at a bar, people dance and mill around her and loud music permeates the air like neon confetti. However, Gloria is in her own world. Gloria is divorced, trying to make the best of being single. She’s got spirit and courage. She often hangs out singles bars, dancing to music that is a strange concoction of disco and new wave music (Oh, I’m letting too much of my own music prejudice show—it’s simply pop music, okay?). Gloria does what people in similar situations around the world also do:  smokes and drinks; She’s completely human and understandable. An attractive woman, she seems to have lost touch with fashion, wearing clunky, dorky looking glasses. I kept wanting to scream out to her: “Lose the freaking glasses! You’ll look one hundred percent better without them, okay?”  Yet, the glasses are an essential element of her character—she almost hides behind them.

It’s too bad that our sweet heroine must look for love with men who are pretty damn pathetic. However, I’m not suggesting that the singles scene is any better in America. I just had real affection for the character and wanted the best for her! It is obvious that Gloria is a good person and appears to have a mature, realistic grasp on life.

Without a doubt, many middle-aged men would find Gloria to be attractive. At a particular bar, she meets a quiet, unassuming but talkative fellow named, Rodolfo             (played by Sergio Hernandez with naturalistic restraint that almost made me believe that he wasn’t acting, but simply ‘being.’). I imagine that this older gentleman is sweetly dangerous with woman; he is good at secrets, I imagine.

At first, I wondered whether Gloria is completely interested in Rodolfo; her expressions seem to demonstrate that she’s seen and heard it all before! She ends up giving him a chance, whether he deserves one or not. Rodolfo runs an amusement center called, Vertigo Park, which I thought was a wonderful name, a nice touch. Zany paint-ball and bungee jumping ensue as the relationship blossoms, along with some pretty damn explicit sex. Incidentally, one of the wonderful things about the sex scenes, to me, is that we see middle-aged folks, replete with imperfect bodies, rolling around in abandon. I think that’s nice for a change.

The film focuses on her new relationship and how it affects not only her extended family but—in often psychologically interesting ways—Rodolfo’s as well. On a larger level, it cleverly demonstrates how loneliness and melancholy can permeate a person’s life after a divorce.

I’d never seen Paula Garcia in anything else before this: She’s an outstanding actress; her character is riveting and beguiling even when hardly uttering a word. This film pulls the viewer in. It’s subtle, yet powerful: Touching, painful, true and embarrassing. While the film never strays from reality into fantasy, I was touched by its mature, honest exuberance. As a man, I also gained vital insight into what middle-aged women went through after a divorce.

3 1/2 of 5 Stars

GLORIA opens in St. Louis Friday, January 31st at The Plaza Frontenac Theater