Gloria (2014)

Better Late Then Never

A Disappointing Continuation

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Rightly tapping into the cliché of middle-age solitude, GLORIA, the up-and-coming Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio's Golden Bear contender (rightfully won its leading actress Paulina García a coveted BEST ACTRSS gong), is a brutally honest take on our titular heroine's stagnated status quo and her inexorable endeavor to break it. A petit bourgeois divorcée, Gloria (García) is in her 50s and has stayed single over a decade, she has a stable office job, the relations with her grown-up children have become distant inevitably through time and she frequents a club tailoring maturer clientele to seek some new spark in her inert life, that's where she meets Rodolfo (Hernández), a retired navy officer and a blow-in of the divorcé club. Physically, their sparkle is incandescent, by way of a daringly hardcore directness in their one-night-stand (and many intimate occasions would follow), Lelio brings home to audience that as unprepossessing as their act seems by the standard of common aesthetics, that is what sex looks like at that age: flabby flesh, furrowed face, unwieldy posture, yet, nothing can possibly take away the carnal sensation the process engenders, and granted not everyone is bestowed with that privilege in their autumn years. That said, there is always a catch in the passion-kindled romance when it passes the initial stage of purely physical attraction towards something more personal and complicated, something is detrimental to the budding relationship. In this case and according to Rodolfo, it is his over- dependent adult daughters, but in the event, after being wantonly stiffed by him not once but twice (the first is a misstep to bring him to her son's birthday party where her ex-husband is also present, and the second is a much more invidious hammer blow), Gloria realizes that this umbilical cord is bilateral, or even worse, insinuated by the last appearance of Rodolfo, decked and peppered by Gloria's vengeful paintball pellets, maybe his side of the story is a total whopper, that is what one calls a superbly orchestrated open-ending eliciting a viewer's afterthought. Through and through, Lelio levels his camera to the indefatigable Gloria, accentuates the emotional spectrum through a much trodden path, and crystallizes the cathartic moments with sublimely figurative strokes (let it be the dancing skeleton metaphor, a thinly-veiled political snapshot in the background or that precious white peacock knockout), often with optimal diegetic music choices (sometimes played lyrically through real-life musician Hugo Moraga), culminated by Umberto Tozzi's erstwhile hit GLORIA, trenchantly hits the bull's eye with its rousing tempo and significative pertinence, that is the damn theme song and a tribute to our heroine and gazillions of women like her in the real world, sidelined and often slighted by this ageist and sexist society, but never subjugates themselves to victimology, instead, they are absolutely faithful to what their hearts desire and never flinch back by the sporadic impediments. Meanwhile, it is also a hard-won victory for the central players, Paulina García deserves all the acclaim she garners for a bold but minutely precise, unmannered yet immensely visceral tour-de- force, which sets a high bar for its slated USA rehash, directed by Lelio himself and starring Julianne Moore. And last but not the least, Sergio Hernández, impresses viewers with equal dedication and beguiles us with his seemingly benevolent and passionate efforts, which speaks volumes about a callous male ego, there is an abuser underneath a commoner's camouflage, soundly punches above its weight in this emphatic feminist chord-striker.

Gloria is a comedy drama that has a deep emotional level running right through it, and also a great advertisement for Chilean film. With a strong lead performance(winning awards in the process), and writing and directing not seen in the mainstream, of course until now, Gloria is just a strange celebration of life but also shows what some go through even when they live fairly well. I felt it was strongly a pretty good movie, and here below is why so.The story as said is a deep level of personal emotion and delves straight into the life of Gloria, the whole story basically revolves around her and her day to day life but also her love life and all that comes with it. At times it can be a little funny if not quite dark humour actually, the funniest parts I would say are toward the end and you will see why but this movie never tries to make you laugh, just watch in wonder at Gloria's life.Paulina Garcia as Gloria is very good, I can see just why she won many accolades for her performance and she commands the role in a graceful yet oddly powerful way. I also enjoyed Sergio Hernandez as Rodolfo, he as well as Garcia commands his character and so when you think back on who gave a great performance, these two really stick out. I liked the way it didn't need massive names to attract attention, it never wanted it but I can see why it got it(and it's good attention).Sebastian Lelio directs and co writes this with a fair bit of ease and even when the film can seem slow and arduous, he comes up with something to bring more life to it, it's as if he kills and then straight away brings back to life. Sometimes it could be said due to the subtitles that it is hard for the emotion to fully come across, I did feel it just a little but by the end you should be at the same level of emotion as the characters involved.My main criticism is it's dull parts, to a hardened critic of straight drama and art house international type work this will seem a walk in the park but for me it has those slightly duller moments which all together, affect the movies score. When you finish you may feel as if "I didn't enjoy that too much but there isn't much to poke holes at" and it is true, very little is wrong other than occasional dullness.If you think this is a Romcom then think again, it isn't about the romance as it is about Gloria struggling to find everything she wants and what she has to deal with day to day. It is a good piece of international work and receiver of many nominations, so if you are looking for a kind of indie made award winner then here you have it.Overall it is Fairly Good and although I didn't think it was just Good, it is very close to being so. I will add that this film is well timed, doesn't overstay it's welcome and lets you enjoy what is has to offer. Maybe the word enjoy is not the word to connect this movie and the audience, a critique for the audience is what it is, showing as previously said many times now, a snapshot of Gloria's life and what she has,wants and gets, just a pretty good drama piece.

Life isn't always easy, and here we have a Chilean movie slogging us through with actress Paulina Garcia's pathetic and lonely woman who seems afraid to commit herself to anyone in her life. She is withdrawn in her shell from those she loves. And if you like misery, the first half of the movie dragged fairly badly and didn't present much in the way of conflict. The director, make-up, Garcia herself have succeeded in creating a total mope. Anyway, thanks to picking up some sort of storyline and the fireworks finale, the director saves the movie from the doldrums. (major spoilers) Absolutely loved the last 10 min or so of the movie with her losing it, and then the white peacock, and finale dance in her name. Sometimes the best scenes in movies really lift a mediocre movie to good standing such as this one.....7/10

At 58, Gloria is in the midst of a midlife crisis. Divorced and with a seemingly strained relationship with her adult children, Gloria is also coping with a mundane job, a potentially psychotic upstairs neighbor, and days on end of perpetual loneliness (and, oh yes, a creepy hairless cat that keeps coming over for a visit). Until, that is, she meets Rodolpho, a divorced ex-naval officer, who has the opposite problem from Gloria: he's TOO intimately involved with the lives of his grown daughters, so much so that he is unable to devote the time needed to nurture his relationship with Gloria.On the surface, "Gloria" feels like most of the other midlife crisis films we've seen, but the strength of this Chilean/Spanish co-production lies in its naturalism and in its focus on revelatory detail. Writer Gonzalo Maza and writer/director Sebastian Lelio provide enough specifics to make this a very particular story about a very particular woman. That manages to keep Gloria a sympathetic figure even when her understandable unhappiness begins to slide over into self-pity. The movie also refuses to tie its story up in a nice, neat little bow at the end to cater to audience expectations.Paulina Garcia won a number of awards, all richly deserved, for her nuanced, fully-developed portrayal of a woman whose life is all but put under a microscope for all the world to see. Yet, Garcia meets the challenge with a bravery rare for actresses her age. Sergio Hernandez matches her as the man who comes into Gloria's life but who may be bringing plenty of his own baggage right along with him.Yet, for all its insight into late-in-life romance, the movie ultimately reveals that middle-aged lovers are often every bit as petulant, jealous and overly sensitive - not to mention, clueless - as the greenest teen when it comes to affairs of the heart. Some things just never change, I guess.