Maria Full of Grace : A
BY PATRICIA DRAZNIN
Like most 17-year-old Colombians, Maria is trapped.
Her wages at the rose plantation barely support her, let alone her
mother, her sister, and her sister’s fatherless baby. Maria deeply
resents her family for depending on her. And she resents her job
supervisor for not being more respectful. And if that’s not enough,
she discovers that her boyfriend, for whom she has no amorous feelings,
has gotten her pregnant.
The proud Maria quits her job with no options on the horizon. Until
she entertains the lucrative but risky proposition of being a “mule” or
heroin smuggler. Lured by a $5000 paycheck for a short adventure to
New York with the appearance of little risk, Maria signs on. Ironically,
while she quit her plantation job to maintain her dignity, she is about
to risk her life to get treated like freight.
The triumph of this quasi-documentary lies in its ability to tell
Maria’s story so gently that its full impact may elude us until
we have time to digest what we’ve seen. And digest is the operative
word, as a mule’s job is transporting two pounds of heroin from
Bogota to New York by swallowing 60 thumb-sized pellets. And if one
pellet breaks, the transporter dies.
Casting first-time actors, including Oscar-nominated Catalina Sandino
Mareno as Maria, newcomer writer/director Joshua Marston reveals
this disturbing underground story. And the role of real-life humanitarian
Don Fernando stars Orlando Tobón, who finds employment for Colombian
immigrants of Queens, NY, and raises funds for the burials of mules
who perish on the job.
While a couple of plot points do not get fully addressed, we are nonetheless
amazed by the chilling account of Maria, a brave young woman of extraordinary
character. Marston’s extensive research delivers a slice of celluloid
reality that is shown in Columbia to dissuade its citizens from entering
an illegal vocation where arrest or death are likely, but no one
will care. Because in the powerful Colombian underworld, drugs and money
are sacred, and human life is cheap. (Spanish with English subtitles)
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