Ave María

This engaging and brooding film titled "Ave Maria" boasts a strong cast and a simple but adequate production design . A thought-provoking fim set in 1659 , Nueva España, story opens as gorgeous novice Maria Ines (promising newcomer Tere Lopez Tarin) is visited Daniel Simon (Demian Bichir), who brings her gifts including a telescope which she can use to pursue her interest in astronomy. A full-fledged Renaissance woman, Maria Ines is also an expert in cartography and botany. Although her quest for knowledge doesn't sit well with Father Serra (Alfredo Sevilla) and the other friars of the mission, they put up with it since her father, a duke, is a bigwig in the Spanish court. But tragedy strikes when Maria Ines' father commits suicide, resulting in the cancelation of all her privileges and her demotion to performing menial tasks. In its second half, suffering a breakdown, the young woman starts to hear voices and obsessively scrubs the chapel's floor. Meanwhile back in the convent, fiendish Father Cuna (Damian Alcazar) in connivance with the Spanish military , launches a campaign to stop the do-gooder. But tragedy for Maria Ines lies just around the corner. Intelligence was her crime, Intolerance her enemy ¡.

Enjoyable ,agreeable film , though packing some flaws and gaps , set in 17th century about religious issues such as intolerance , fatalism and bigotry . Regarding a brave and valiant woman : Maria Ines who eventually becomes a loving , saintly figure, exercising her healing powers to help the plague-ridden natives. A charming if modest production values with nice photography in colonial religious paintings style help compensate for storyline troubles . Rossoff's stilted filmmaking fails to provide the complex development that the conflict needs , but overstating some of the emotions . A provoking and thoughtful picture in which Camille Thomasson's script renders most of the one-dimensional roles though giving poignant turns, as well as lacking motivation for their actions . Concerning the thorny theme of progressive womanhood at odds with a backward mentality turns into a schematic opposition between good and evil . Interpretations are uniformly good, in her first starring character, Lopez Tarin gives an appropriate acting as a strange woman who has a mystic revelation moving to forsake her wealthy inheritance and leave the convent in search of her mother's Indian roots . While Damian Alcazar arranges to lend some depth to the main villain , a fanatic friar . To its credit, an attractive cast manages to turn the cliches into believable human beings and a decent support cast formed by Mexican actors as Demián Bichir as a dashing trader , Alfredo Sevilla as the poisoned Serra and Spanish ones as Juán Diego Botto as the enamored priest and special mention for Ana Torrent as a resentful nun who later turns to Maria's cause.

Veteran cinematographer Henner Hofmann has done here one of his greatest works as an expert cameraman , with suggestive colors and picturesque frames . And shot on location in Hidalgo, Mexico. The prestigious Spanish musician Carles Cases composes a sacred soundtrack , adding operistic music and religious sounds . This interesting period piece was profesionally directed by Eduardo Rossoff , although uneven at times and written by notorious writer: Camille Thomasson who also wrote another religious story : Luther by Eric Till . First-time director Eduardo Rossoff tells his tale with an academic correctness and skillness enough that at times works against its dramatic potential. Pic could find its audience on the arthouse circuit and in Hispanic festivals in which it got some nominations and awards such as : Ariel Awards, Mexico 2000 Nominee Silver Ariel Best Set Design Melo Hinojosa, Best Actor in a Minor Role Luis de Icaza , Best Actress in a Minor Role Ana Ofelia Murguía Best Supporting Actor Alfredo Sevilla , Havana Film Festival 1999 Winner Best Director Eduardo Rossoff , Winner Coral Best First Work Eduardo Rossoff , Mar del Plata Film Festival 1999 Nominee Best Film International Competition Eduardo Rossoff , Newport Beach Film Festival 2000 Winner Audience Award Feature Film.