Love, that primordial emotion which incites joy and grief, pleasure and pain, is the theme of this independent film produced by Oscar winner (and fellow Puerto Rican) Benicio del Toro. Winner of three Cartagena Film Festival Awards in Columbia, including Best Picture, Maldeamores is hot on the heels of new legislation passed in Puerto Rico to aid, support and encourage the burgeoning film industry on the island.
Independent films are generally known for sanctioning writers, producers, and actors to deliver tales somewhat askew from the traditional realm of blockbusters, and this one is no exception. Described by other reviewers as ‘realistic impressionism that highlights performance and drama over heavy-handed camera work,’ this film is artful in its simplistic story telling, relating the delicate fragility yet equally powerful strength of love.
Each character represents different aspects of love, in age and in phases. The most powerful and endearing performances come from Silvia Brito, Miguel Angel Alvarez, and Chavito Marrero as they tangle themselves in a golden years’ love triangle full of regret, sweet memories, and passion. The most familiar actor in the film is another Puerto Rican actor named Luis Guzman, who has appeared in a number of films including Punch Drunk Love, Fast Food Nation, and the infamous Boogie Nights.
The strength of the film comes from the realism of its characters and storyline. We know them intimately because they live among us. There is the young boy who experiments with his first feelings of awestruck love (and a kiss) with a bold little girl in the backseat of his parents’ car as his parents exchange bitter disappointments in the front seat. Although least believable, the most oddly humorous storyline is that of an infatuated (psychotic?) young man who professes his love to a bus driver, thus creating a hostage situation with a busload of people until she agrees to marry him. I found it to be a unique and amusing reflection of Puerto Ricans in crisis situations.
Melancholy in nature, Maldeamores explores the completeness with which love envelops our senses, becoming an unavoidable sickness despite our futile attempts to escape its grasp. Don’t expect flashy Hollywood makeup and wardrobe, explosions or tricked out vehicles, or otherworldly special effects. If you are more interested in substance than visual enticements, as true love should be, then you will welcome this diamond-in-the-rough piece of poetry.
Obviously, I cherished the scenery, the language, and the cultural nuances because it is from my homeland. But when my dear French amie Marie raved about it, I knew it was a gem that went beyond cultural attachments. It is a story that unites us through the common sentiment of amor (or as Marie would say, amour): that sensation we all identify with and incessantly seek to include in our lives.
~ Monica Caldari, monicac@moonshineink.com.
