User Score
4 votes
The film tells the touching story of Alfredito, a sacristan in a country church: in a long flashback he talks about his life and his deep love for his mother and for the Virgin Mary, both 'beloved mothers' (madres amadísimas). From the discovery of his sexual identity to his first love, from his military service to his move to the big city, his personal experience traces the history of Spain, from Franco's dictatorship to the achievement of democracy. A baroque melodrama where the protagonist's homosexuality and religious belief together form a single devotion, passionate and unwavering.
Director
Screenplay
Status
Released
Original Language
ES
2023 marked the thirtieth anniversary of Maroun Baghdadi’s sudden and tragic death. Maroun was a Lebanese filmmaker who wrote and directed films during the Lebanese civil war and contributed to documentary and fiction filmmaking from 1973 up until his death in 1993. In this film, Feyrouz Serhal embarks on a day trip in Beirut and navigates the city that profoundly shaped Maroun’s journey in life and cinema. Here she encounters individuals who were close to him and who shared his experiences. And as she traverses Maroun’s life and career, the social and political backdrop moves to the foreground. The film reflects on the last fifty years of the history of the country from a present standpoint. Through Maroun’s story, we perceive how cinema can, beautifully and dramatically, portray our stories and discourse our life events..
