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| Sierva (Eliza Triana) in Love and Other Demons |
Rabid with religion
By Miranda Inganni
Director Hilda Hidalgo’s film based on Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel of the same name is a stunningly supple fairy/morality (mortality?) tale set in colonial South America.
The film stars Eliza Triana as the copper haired, young noble 13-year-old girl, Sierva Maria, whose ethereal image pops in stark contrast against the gritty backdrop.
Heavily influenced by the indigenous community around her parents’ jungle home, Sierva wishes for her own death as her beloved nanny lays dying. At the market, Sierva is bitten by a rabid dog and is thought to have contracted the disease, which the Catholic Church insists is demonic possession. Because of pressure from the Church, her father (Joaquín Climent), reluctantly agrees to send her to a convent where a young handsome priest, Cayetano Delaura (Pablo Derqui) oversees her exorcism. Subsequently, Sierva and Cayetano’s dreams seem only to reinforce their waking lives and the intense, desirous connection they have for each other.
Costa Rica's Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language Film.
Recommended.
(Of Love and Other Demons screens Jan. 7, 5 p.m., Palm Springs Regal 9; Jan. 9, 10 a.m., Palm Springs Regal 9. For more information: http://www.psfilmfest.org)
