La puta y la ballena

This was a very beautiful film by writer/director Luis Puenzo, who last blew me away with his film The Official Story.

It was two stories in one, connects by threads that ran from one to the other - the whale, a woman and a man, and chance.

The gorgeous Aitana Sánchez-Gijón (The Machinist, Mouth to Mouth) plays Vera, who is facing cancer and, having her breast removed, is feeling rather hopeless. Chance has her in a hospital be next to an old woman who is connected to events before the Spanish Civil War.

Those events, and the story of Lola (Mercè Llorens), Mathide (Belén Blanco), Suarez (Miguel Ángel Solá), and Emilio (Leonardo Sbaraglia), are told simultaneously and she is drawn into the story by a box of photos and a request to do a new book by her editor.

Her explorations of herself in the face of cancer, and the story of the showgirl turned prostitute, are connected by a whale that appears in both off the shores of Patagonia.

The art, cinematography, costumes, and music are absolutely wonderful and make this an enjoyable experience.