There are two kinds of people in the world – those who believe what they're told and those who need to find things out for themselves. "Mary's Land" (PG-13, 1:56) deals primarily with the latter. The movie's title refers to Earth, and the "Mary" in the title, to Jesus' mother, the biblical woman whom Roman Catholics hold in extremely high regard. This 2013 Spanish production (also a 2014 release in Mexico and 2015 limited release in the U.S.) is a call to everyone in "Mary's Land" to take a fresh look at the claims of the Bible and the role of Mary and her son Jesus in their lives.
The film's story begins with an encounter between an unnamed female secret-agent-type known simply as "The Boss" (Carmen Losa) and a man named Juan Manuel Cotelo (who also wrote, directed and acts in the film under his real name). The Boss (or, "La Jefa", as the film refers to her, if you don't read the English subtitles) is sending Juan on a mission across Europe and the Americas to meet with people who claim their lives have been directly touched by the Virgin Mary. But first, some context – for Juan and for the audience. The Boss plays Juan a short video in which the basic Bible story of the creation, the fall of man and his redemption through the sacrifice of Jesus and the intercession of Mary are laid out through a series of carefully chosen biblical scenes.
In this film, Juan is a stand-in for both groups of people. He confesses a passive belief in the Bible, which doesn't affect his daily life in any real way. ("My relationship with God is cultural, intellectual," Juan states.) The Boss says all that makes him perfect for this assignment. He is to be the "devil's advocate", but not with the kind of mission usually ascribed to that title. Instead of helping the Catholic Church's canonization debates by arguing against possible sainthood for a particular person, Juan questions people who claim that their lives have been changed by their faith in Jesus, and his mother, Mary.
For most of the film, we see Juan interview a variety of people, with the stated goal of eventually meeting the "head of the organization" (Mary herself), and, hopefully, to get to "the very top" (Jesus). Each interviewee clutches a rosary and tells his or her own unique story of turning towards an active faith in God and a personal relationship with Mother Mary. There's the American-born businessman in London who talks with government leaders about issues of faith. Former Columbian supermodel Amada Rosa Perez now acts as an unofficial ambassador for Mary, as she meets people who recognize her from her modeling and acting. In Mexico, a geriatric nurse spends his nights carrying a large picture of Mary through the streets of Guadalajara and talking to prostitutes about the love of God. In the Panamanian jungle, a priest runs a shelter for abused women and children. A former abortion doctor in Washington D.C. now runs a center that helps women dealing with unwanted pregnancies. Then, In Las Vegas, Juan meets former dancer and actress Lola Falana, who currently suffers from multiple sclerosis, but takes great comfort from her faith in Mary and Jesus.
All this is leading to something specific, something the filmmakers portray as very special. The D.C. doc wrote Juan a prescription which sends him to Bosnia-Herzegovina, to visit the Catholic holy site of Medjugorje. Like Lourdes and Fatima before it, Medjugorje is a site where ordinary people claimed to witness a personal appearance by the Virgin Mary. This place, and the others like it, now serves as a pilgrimage destination for the faithful and seekers alike, from all over the world. Juan meets people there who claim to have experienced miracles performed by Mary or have spoken with her in person. Juan has lost communication with the Boss, but he keeps sending her voice messages, which serve the audience as a record of his journey – both physical and spiritual. To avoid a spoiler, I'll just say that the story comes to a satisfactory and logical conclusion, given the subject matter.
Plain and simple, "Mary's Land" presents the Christian gospel – with a strong Catholic bent – and does so relatively well. Relatively. The production values are superior to most faith-based movies – especially when it comes to the cinematography, which includes beautiful nature shots during the creation narrative early in the film. Juan's interviews introduce him (and his audience) to people representing a fairly diverse cross-section of Catholic Christian believers. As a non-Catholic, I found the way Mary was spoken of and portrayed throughout the film to be very educational, as the entire film would likely be for audience members unfamiliar with the Bible.
Unfortunately for the film, the initial set-up comes off as a bit silly and there are very noticeable inconsistencies in the words and attitudes of the main character as he bounces back and forth between being seemingly ignorant of Christian doctrine, a well-informed skeptic, the devil's advocate character and another kind of advocate who is secretly but obviously rooting for the people he is interviewing. Then, rather than staying focused on Mary, the film often gets sidetracked grinding its axe against the undesirability of abortion and, oddly, the use of anti-depressants by those who need them.
The movie wants people to believe in Jesus and Mary because of their personal experiences with them, but still appeals to the first kind of people I mentioned earlier, those who simply believe what they're told, whether they have an emotional conversion or recommitment experience or not and whether the claims of the people on screen can be objectively verified. Although "Mary's Land" is a semi-well-produced, original, educational and heartfelt plea for greater devotion to religious principles, it's mainly just preaching to the choir. "C"
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