Raquel is a house keeper for an upper class,Chilean family who has worked for them for twenty plus years,and is showing signs of wearing down with age (she's only 41,but looks & acts much older). Her bosses, Pilar & Mundo decide to take on a second house keeper,but Raquel won't hear of it. When they do hire a young woman,and later an older one,Raquel makes it tough for them,resulting in their either quitting or being outright fired. When they try a third time with a young woman named Sonia,who has a kind heart that somehow creeps into Raquel's tough exterior,she finds out things about herself that she didn't know before. Sebastian Silva (La Vida Me Mata)directs this drama,with some nice black comedy touches,from his own original screenplay,a nicely layered tale of a middle aged woman who is just becoming to come out of her shell. Catalina Saavedia (star of Silva's La Vida Me Mata)is Raquel,a woman who is content with things remaining the same. Claudia Celedron is Pilar,and Alejandra Goic is Mundo,Raquel's bosses,who are depicted as kind hearted,but still sort of bourgeois buffoons. Anita Reeves is Sonia,the domestic that is probably the first to treat Raquel as a social equal. Look out for Andrea Garcia Huidobro as Pilar & Mundo's eldest daughter,Camila that nearly steals the show. The original running time of this fine film is 115 minutes,but sadly the American prints are trimmed by twenty minutes (hopefully,the film's eventual DVD release will contain the original 115 minute cut). Spoken in Spanish with English subtitles. Not rated by the MPAA,this film contains rude language,nudity & adult content.
Review of The Maid
