It occurred to me several times while watching "Maria Full of Grace" that even without looking at the subtitles, and even
though I don't speak much Spanish, I could often tell what was going on simply through the actors' body language, vocal inflection and attitude. The acting is so good that it nearly transcends language barriers. I won't say the film itself is quite that good, but it is impressive, the work of a first-time writer director, Joshua Marston, and a large number of semi-experienced actors who understand realism is most convincing for a harrowing story like this one. The Maria of the title, played by Catalina Sandino Moreno, is a 17-year-old girl in a tiny Colombian village. She has a job de-thorning roses, a job which she quits after her unsympathetic boss won't let her go to the bathroom when she's sick, and then makes her wash the vomit off the roses she pukes on.
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