THE HEIRESSES
****
Director: Marcelo Martinessi
Screenwriter: Marcelo Martinessi
Principal cast:
Ana Brun
Margarita Irún
Ana Ivanova
Nilda Gonzales
María Martins
Alicia Guerra
Country: Paraguay, France, Germany, Norway, Brazil, Uruguay and Italy
Classification: M
Runtime: 98 mins.
Australian release date: 23 May 2019
Previewed at: Palace Central, Sydney, on 9 May 2019.
Marcelo Martinessi’s The Heiresses won the Sydney Film Prize in the Official Competition at last year’s Sydney Film Festival, having been judged the “most audacious, cutting-edge and courageous” of the films in contention. It was also the winner of the FIPRESCI Prize (International Critics Award) at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Silver Bear for Best Actress for Ana Brun, for her very first film role. Not bad, indeed, for a film from Paraguay, a country with an historically low film output. It should be noted, however, that production has picked up quite considerably since about 2010, so we may well be seeing more films from this land-locked South American country in the future.
Set in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, The Heiresses is a complex observation of a well-born Paraguayan couple who have fallen on hard times. It concentrates on the dilemmas of an elderly lesbian pair, Chela (Brun) and Chiquita aka “Chiqui” (Margarita Irún), who have been together for over 30 years but are now facing financial difficulties requiring the sale of some of their family heirlooms. Charged with fraud for reasons that are never made crystal clear but obviously relate to one of their debts, Chiqui ends up being incarcerated for some months. In her absence, Chela, who seems deeply depressed and has always been the submissive one in the relationship, decides to take up chauffeuring in order to fend for herself. She’s the proud owner of a beautifully maintained green Mercedes, a gift from her father, and she soon finds a regular clientele in the wealthy women of her neighbourhood. One of her clients is Angy (Ana Ivanova), the daughter of one of her friends, a younger woman with a more liberal attitude to life than she has previously encountered in her structured, cloistered world. Soon Angy’s perspective and actions begin to open Chela’s eyes to the inequality that exists in her relationship and elsewhere in society and, like a chick emerging from an egg, she timidly begins to break out of her shell.
Martinessi’s observation of the life of the Paraguayan bourgeoisie is acute and he delivers a subtle, nuanced, quiet film with a rebellious undertone that unfolds at a measured pace. It’s like a pot of simmering soup, ready to boil over if no-one takes notice of the situation. It is also about love and how long-term relationships are often taken for granted, and the need for people to occasionally rethink their situations. By extension, it is also, of course, a political allegory about the historical and political repression of Paraguay since the 1950s. The director says, “it was irrelevant to place The Heiresses at a specific moment in our political history because the feeling of living in a giant prison remains the same. And this is essentially a film about confinements.”
The characters are all compelling and the performances equally so. Ana Brun, particularly, is superb as Chela. Her character’s inner life must be read on her face because Chela has been repressed for years, so she’s not a woman who readily says what’s on her mind. It’s a brilliant portrayal of a deceptively complex person. It is to Martinessi’s credit that The Heiresses, his feature directorial debut, has won such prestigious prizes at some of the world’s best film festivals.
Screenwriter: Marcelo Martinessi
Principal cast:
Ana Brun
Margarita Irún
Ana Ivanova
Nilda Gonzales
María Martins
Alicia Guerra
Country: Paraguay, France, Germany, Norway, Brazil, Uruguay and Italy
Classification: M
Runtime: 98 mins.
Australian release date: 23 May 2019
Previewed at: Palace Central, Sydney, on 9 May 2019.
Marcelo Martinessi’s The Heiresses won the Sydney Film Prize in the Official Competition at last year’s Sydney Film Festival, having been judged the “most audacious, cutting-edge and courageous” of the films in contention. It was also the winner of the FIPRESCI Prize (International Critics Award) at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Silver Bear for Best Actress for Ana Brun, for her very first film role. Not bad, indeed, for a film from Paraguay, a country with an historically low film output. It should be noted, however, that production has picked up quite considerably since about 2010, so we may well be seeing more films from this land-locked South American country in the future.
Set in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, The Heiresses is a complex observation of a well-born Paraguayan couple who have fallen on hard times. It concentrates on the dilemmas of an elderly lesbian pair, Chela (Brun) and Chiquita aka “Chiqui” (Margarita Irún), who have been together for over 30 years but are now facing financial difficulties requiring the sale of some of their family heirlooms. Charged with fraud for reasons that are never made crystal clear but obviously relate to one of their debts, Chiqui ends up being incarcerated for some months. In her absence, Chela, who seems deeply depressed and has always been the submissive one in the relationship, decides to take up chauffeuring in order to fend for herself. She’s the proud owner of a beautifully maintained green Mercedes, a gift from her father, and she soon finds a regular clientele in the wealthy women of her neighbourhood. One of her clients is Angy (Ana Ivanova), the daughter of one of her friends, a younger woman with a more liberal attitude to life than she has previously encountered in her structured, cloistered world. Soon Angy’s perspective and actions begin to open Chela’s eyes to the inequality that exists in her relationship and elsewhere in society and, like a chick emerging from an egg, she timidly begins to break out of her shell.
Martinessi’s observation of the life of the Paraguayan bourgeoisie is acute and he delivers a subtle, nuanced, quiet film with a rebellious undertone that unfolds at a measured pace. It’s like a pot of simmering soup, ready to boil over if no-one takes notice of the situation. It is also about love and how long-term relationships are often taken for granted, and the need for people to occasionally rethink their situations. By extension, it is also, of course, a political allegory about the historical and political repression of Paraguay since the 1950s. The director says, “it was irrelevant to place The Heiresses at a specific moment in our political history because the feeling of living in a giant prison remains the same. And this is essentially a film about confinements.”
The characters are all compelling and the performances equally so. Ana Brun, particularly, is superb as Chela. Her character’s inner life must be read on her face because Chela has been repressed for years, so she’s not a woman who readily says what’s on her mind. It’s a brilliant portrayal of a deceptively complex person. It is to Martinessi’s credit that The Heiresses, his feature directorial debut, has won such prestigious prizes at some of the world’s best film festivals.