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Review - Nana (The Maid)
Raquel, played by Catalina Saavedra, is the maid in a busy affluent Chilean household. As the kids have grown up her job satisfaction has diminished and she is experiencing a mid life crisis. Her self worth and self confidence reflects her standing in the household. Only the head of the household, Pilar, played by Claudia Celedon, retains any true affection for Raquel. But when Pilar notices that something is wrong with Raquel, she mis-judges the symptoms, and the cause, and begins hiring a series of additional maids to help Raquel out. What Raquel really needs is to be re-integrated into the affections of the household she has devoted most of her life to.
The movie, directed by Sebastian Silva, is supposed to be a microcosm of the class society in Chile, but any serious messages are lost within the domestic politics of the household, and the movie...
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...descends into farce at times, as Raquel struggles with her own identity and resorts to locking her assistants outside the house at every opportunity.The inevitable nervous breakdown that Raquel suffers leads to the arrival of a 3rd new maid, Lucy (Mariana Loyola) who establishes herself in the household, and quickly in their affections, with a bright cheerful and positive attitude. She breaks down the barriers Raquel has put up and helps her recover mentally and spiritually.
It would have been far better if the first of the assistant maids, Bolivian Mercedes (Mercedes Villanueva), had remained in the household throughout the movie and had incrementally broken down the barriers put up by Raquel. This would have created the scope for a more challenging movie, using race, class, ageism and politics to the themes of selfishness and selflessness.
My Rating : 5/10 Mildly Diverting
Review written by John Franklin : September 2010
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