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Friday, February 7, 2014

Gloria (2013)

Set in Santiago, Chile; a fifty-ish divorcee (Pauline Garcia, who won the best actress award at the Berlin film festival for her work here) with two grown children attempts to fill a void in her life ..... a relationship. When she meets a recently divorced man (Sergio Hernandez) at a dance bar, the two connect immediately. But unlike her, he can't seem to move on from his ex-wife and grown daughters. Armed with glowing reviews, I was looking forward to seeing this film and perhaps I expected too much but I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Certainly not disappointed in Garcia's performance which is wonderful and it was refreshing to see an honest film about middle age romance without the contrived trappings of the usual Hollywood romcom. But there was a bittersweet pall over the entire venture that depressed me. Perhaps because part of me understands Gloria's predicament all too well. But at least the film was honest and didn't give us the sugarcoated "happy" ending all too prevalent in American cinema. Worth seeking out but chances are coming out you may possibly feel melancholy instead of the exuberance the critics have ascribed to it. Directed by Sebastian Lelio.

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