¡Viva! Reviews/ Maria y el Araña

¡Viva! Reviewer India Morgan reviews Maria Victoria Menis’ award-winning film Maria y el Araña.

Barely a word is uttered in Maria y el Araña, the award-winning film by Maria Victoria Menis. Instead, the Argentine director demonstrates astute artistry in her meticulous attention to imagery. The stripped-back script puts emphasis on camerawork. Mise-en-scene and framing culminate in a carefully constructed storyboard that is both poetic and symbolic. Stylistically, the film isn’t far off a graphic novel, given its emphasis on visuals, the Spiderman character and good versus evil narrative. A subliminally tense soundscape also runs through the film, as Menis throws us into the murky underworld of dark fairytales

The film follows 13 year-old Maria, who lives with her grandmother and step-grandfather in a shanty town on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Lost and vulnerable, Maria quietly excels at school and finds meditative solace in her drawings. She sells maps to subway commuters after school, and it is here where she first encounters Spider. The boy, who dresses in a tatty Spiderman outfit and juggles on the subway for money, captures Maria’s attention. But can he save her from the grim reality of her home life, or is he just a kid playing superhero?

Names, costumes and space define the characters, who are supported by compelling performances from the entire cast. The boy known as Spider takes after his name, lurking underground, weaving across networks of trains, and performing acrobatics for a living. His nocturnal existence is accentuated in frequent shots of the darkened corner where he sleeps at home, and a whole scene dedicated to him exiting the underground after dark. His superhero outfit signifies his relationship to Mariaand also doubles as a protective disguise from the world. Its shabby condition questions his ability to save Maria, and the religious connotations of her name embody the character’s innocence.

Maria’s step-grandfather is repeatedly associated with the deadly sins. He is often seen grotesquely consuming, and at the carnival dance he places a green mask over his eyes before exploding in a jealous rage. The moral ambiguity of Maria’s grandmother is effortlessly evoked when she toys with a mask bearing the devil on one side and an angel on the other. Menis is scrupulous in her attention to detail. The lighting, sound, props and costume are all carefully considered. Characters are enveloped in meaning right down to the finest subtleties.

This is a film that shows everything by hardly saying anything. The viewer is invited to fill in what is not said by identifying the symbolic meaning in the image. Even Menis’ central message is perhaps hidden in plain sight in an advertising slogan for a mobile phone network seen in the underground station: “No te quedes afuera de la red/don’t stay outside the network” alternates with “Es bueno estar conectado/It’s good to be connected.” Urging connectivity and a sense of community, Menis warns of the consequences when the most vulnerable slip through society’s safety net. A story conveyed with sensitivity and intelligence, this is a well-crafted and very moving film.

Maria y el Araña screens on Monday 9 March, as part of our first ¡Viva! Weekender