Maria Full Of Grace Analysis
Book/Film Interpretation Project
Maria Full Of Grace
Director Joshua Marston takes a refreshing approach to film making by deliberately avoiding stereotypical representations and overly violent depictions in his documentary-style movie Maria Full of Grace. Marston, born in 1968 in California and a newcomer to film making with editing and writing to his credits, was sharply dedicated to creating a realistic representation of the Colombian way of life. He spent five years on the project and I am taken by Marston’s commitment to reality…depicted in every aspect of his filming but in particular to his willingness to involve regular, ongoing and evolving input from the cast through improvisation and regular rewrites. Even the inclusion of the …show more content…
Ultimately, the welfare of all members of the family falls to the women and it is not a responsibility taken lightly. As depicted in the movie, women will provide for the family even if this means living together in confined quarters, sharing modest amounts of food, suffering through labor injustices for hard earned monies and so on. Although most in Colombian society are poor, given the unemployment rate by the end of the 1990s rose to 20% per an article titled “Colombia” published by MSN Encarta, the lacking financial situation becomes more manageable by living together.
According to another article titled “Colombia”, this one published by Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, people in Colombia live on the equivalent of $1 a day…working in hard, strenuous conditions with a strong sense of family with little opportunity to overcome the oppression. Simply conducting the math calculation makes the economics of it understandable. If a dollar is the approximate equivalent of 2.3 pesos (2005 average per “Colombia” MSN Encarta), just imagine what $5,000 earned from one smuggling trip can do for someone and his/her …show more content…
Marston depicts the process in the movie in a remarkably accurate way. The large, latex drug pellets, 60 – 100 at a time, are prepared, swallowed and passed all as shown in the movie. Every detail is meticulously documented right down to practicing with grapes to numbing of the throat with chloraseptic to the use of toothpaste to assist with swallowing a second time. Sadly, the drug trade is an ingrained, everyday part of Colombian culture; so much so that it is not uncommon to see signs throughout the Bogotá airport trying to deter mules from their accepted assignments. It is interesting to note that Marston too uses posters and advertisements at the airport throughout the movie…it is the details that are interesting and had it not been for Marston’s commentary and my subsequent third view of the movie, I would not have noticed. “It 's what 's on the inside that counts" (es lo que hay dentro que cuenta) is viewable behind Maria as she is walking through the airport…an interesting double entendre referring to Maria’s strength and good heart as well as her
Maria Full Of Grace
Director Joshua Marston takes a refreshing approach to film making by deliberately avoiding stereotypical representations and overly violent depictions in his documentary-style movie Maria Full of Grace. Marston, born in 1968 in California and a newcomer to film making with editing and writing to his credits, was sharply dedicated to creating a realistic representation of the Colombian way of life. He spent five years on the project and I am taken by Marston’s commitment to reality…depicted in every aspect of his filming but in particular to his willingness to involve regular, ongoing and evolving input from the cast through improvisation and regular rewrites. Even the inclusion of the …show more content…
Ultimately, the welfare of all members of the family falls to the women and it is not a responsibility taken lightly. As depicted in the movie, women will provide for the family even if this means living together in confined quarters, sharing modest amounts of food, suffering through labor injustices for hard earned monies and so on. Although most in Colombian society are poor, given the unemployment rate by the end of the 1990s rose to 20% per an article titled “Colombia” published by MSN Encarta, the lacking financial situation becomes more manageable by living together.
According to another article titled “Colombia”, this one published by Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, people in Colombia live on the equivalent of $1 a day…working in hard, strenuous conditions with a strong sense of family with little opportunity to overcome the oppression. Simply conducting the math calculation makes the economics of it understandable. If a dollar is the approximate equivalent of 2.3 pesos (2005 average per “Colombia” MSN Encarta), just imagine what $5,000 earned from one smuggling trip can do for someone and his/her …show more content…
Marston depicts the process in the movie in a remarkably accurate way. The large, latex drug pellets, 60 – 100 at a time, are prepared, swallowed and passed all as shown in the movie. Every detail is meticulously documented right down to practicing with grapes to numbing of the throat with chloraseptic to the use of toothpaste to assist with swallowing a second time. Sadly, the drug trade is an ingrained, everyday part of Colombian culture; so much so that it is not uncommon to see signs throughout the Bogotá airport trying to deter mules from their accepted assignments. It is interesting to note that Marston too uses posters and advertisements at the airport throughout the movie…it is the details that are interesting and had it not been for Marston’s commentary and my subsequent third view of the movie, I would not have noticed. “It 's what 's on the inside that counts" (es lo que hay dentro que cuenta) is viewable behind Maria as she is walking through the airport…an interesting double entendre referring to Maria’s strength and good heart as well as her