Film Roar

The Holy Girl (2004)

If you are like me you might have seen the trailer for La Niña Santa (2004) and thought it looked like an enchanting movie of seduction, relationship and intrigue. Like me you see it is playing at the local art film house and decide you should not miss it. Well if you are anything like me you will be badly disappointed. I blame the trailer.

The trailer for The Holy Girl quotes other reviewers saying the movie has 'great subtlety and intensity', is 'wickedly sharp' and that 'you leave the theatre in a state of quiet awe'. Subtlety, I will grant but there is nothing wicked, the movie is terribly dull and both myself and my two companions left the theater with a state of 'what the fuck' mixed in with 'god that was boring' and 'can we change the subject to something a bit more interesting'. Worse still the trailer makes it seem that the girl (Amalia played by newcomer María Alche with some grace and intensity) is the principal character in the story but she turns out to be the least developed. The only character to be properly developed is her mother (Helena played by Mercedes Morán). A major plot problem develops around the third principal, the doctor (played by Carlos Belloso), who seems to be irresistible to the women around him for no apparent reason.

The intensity and excitement in the trailer is nowhere to be seen in this oddly cut Argentinean feature. There is one beautiful moment in the trailer where Amalia clears the water from her eyes and looks at Dr Jano who notices her with a worried look that is followed by a somewhat mischievous grin from Amalia. This scene never occurs! It is constructed from shots taken from three distinct parts of the movie and builds a kind interaction that would have been interesting to see in The Holy Girl but is entirely absent. To be honest to their audience they really should change their tag line to "Sometimes the desire for a good movie leads to the temptation to see a mediocre one."