User reviews

I really liked this movie a lot. It's refreshing to come across a compelling human drama that is told in such an incredibly honest and unexaggerated fashion that it ends up feeling wonderfully real and completely believable. The rather straightforward story only makes the movie feel more convincing - not at all contrived.

Maria Alvarez, played by previous unknown Catalina Sandino Moreno, is a seventeen year old who falls into the sticky-sweet trap of seeking a quick escape from the drudgery and hopelessness of her mundane existence. She turns to drugs. Not using them, though - smuggling them. Working as a drug mule offers her the chance at easy money. But, like most young people, she dives into it headlong - without fully realizing the risks and possible consequences. In fact, this movie really is all about young people stumbling over their own poor judgements (yes, it can be painful to watch at times).

Given all the hype that surrounded this movie when it was released, I found it to be not quite as harrowing as I had expected. Perhaps I'm just too jaded and desensitized. In truth, there were moments where I felt genuinely afraid for Maria. Mostly, though, there was just a real sense of the despair and desperation that fills the lives of these young Colombians. Perhaps this movie will, after all, not be the centerpiece of the Colombia Tourism Board's upcoming marketing and public relations campaign.

In the spirit of keeping it genuine (aka believable), all the acting in this movie is right on the mark - all the actors deliver. Of course, Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria) is so graced with natural beauty and she projects such a gentle and humble manner that one can't really help but feel empathy for her character. In fact, if there is anything to find fault with in the casting of her as Maria, it's that you're left wondering why her boyfriend would be such a God-damned idiot as to pass her up. If he had even an ant's worth of common sense, he would be madly in love with her. Not? So, that's the one element that doesn't gel so well.

The moody and melancholic music throughout this film - with plenty of beautiful acoustic guitar playing - supports the emotional content of the movie perfectly. Thankfully, it doesn't overtly bang you on the head with "feel sad here", and "feel scared here", and "feel relieved here". It sinks back a bit to find its harmony with the other elements. Nice.

The cinematography is beautiful in its simplicity and its understated manner. The word "modest" - in its best sense - serves well in describing this movie. Overall, it's just not as heavily stylized as other the-perils-of-getting-involved-with-drugs type movies - such as "Requiem For a Dream", "Traffic", "Blow", and "City of God", to name but a few - and with little of the annoying moralizing that tends to poison movies of this "genre".

In conclusion, most of us have already learned in life that one shouldn't be an ass. What this movie teaches us is that it's also not a good idea to be a mule.

It upsets me when I see a well-crafted film like this getting mediocre ratings (even if it is a "weighted average" on IMDb). As I write this most people who have voted have given Maria Full of Grace a "7" or higher. I was so engrossed by Maria's story and the acting that went into it that, at times, I felt as if I was watching a documentary. (I also had that feeling watching "City of God"). The Audience Award at Sundance was obviously well deserved. Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria) gives the type of performance that should make a lot of directors take note. And the story itself makes you to pause to consider the reasons why some people are involved in the drug trade. See this film!

In Joshua Marston's small budget film Maria Full of Grace, a headstrong Colombian girl of seventeen (Catalina Sandino Moreno), determined to escape from a country where the average annual income is about $1700 US, seizes an opportunity to earn $5000 by ingesting and transporting illegal drugs to New York at considerable risk to herself and her unborn child. Inspired by a woman in his Brooklyn neighborhood who told him her story of swallowing capsules of heroin and boarding a plane for the United States, first-time director Marston has escaped the clichés of social realist films to offer a riveting human odyssey that transcends simplistic messages of good and evil. Shot in documentary style with a hand-held camera in Ecuador and New York, the film's authenticity is greatly enhanced by its use of Colombian actors speaking in their native Spanish language.

Maria Alvarez along with her best friend Blanca (Yenny Paola Vega), works at a job stripping thorns from roses in a village near Bogota, Colombia. Despite low wages and deplorable working conditions, her pay provides support for her grandmother, mother, sister, and infant nephew to sustain their meager household. After she has words with her boss, she quits her job and soon discovers she is pregnant by a local boy Juan (Wilson Guerrero) whom she does not love and refuses to marry. Feeling trapped, she quickly accepts when Franklin (Jhon Alex Toro), a friend she recently met at a dance, offers her a huge sum of money to smuggle drugs into the U.S. The trick is that she must swallow up to 100 heroin pellets sealed with latex and dental floss, knowing that certain death follows if one of them bursts.

The lovely Ms. Moreno, in an Oscar-worthy debut performance, is no cardboard character but a fully developed human being who epitomizes the desperation of people who are willing to do almost anything to better their life. The tension is almost unbearable as we follow Maria's odyssey into danger. She soon meets drug kingpin Javier (Jaime Osorio Gomez), who explains the operation, and in secret, talks with Lucy (Guilied Lopez), who shares her experience in carrying drugs to America and allows her to practice by swallowing large grapes.

After barely escaping the probing of U.S. Customs Officers in New York, things begin to go wrong and Maria and Blanca must rely on their tremendous resolve to survive in a confusing and lonely environment. Winner of the Dramatic Audience Award at Sundance and two major awards at the Berlin Film Festival, Maria Full of Grace is not only a hard-hitting jab at a global economic system that allows exploitation of the poor to satisfy the pleasure of the rich, but a richly nuanced coming-of-age story that delivers its hard-edged message with understanding and compassion. One of the best films of the year.

Horrowing like nothing I've seen in a while.What a great movie, it was so disturbing at times I could'nt sleep. Reading Ralph Michael Stein comments I realize how differently people's take on the central character of Maria can be, to me she and people like her are not the criminals in this sad story but definitely the exploited. If it were'nt for drug users in wealthy countries like ours, who considered "partying" a fun harmless escape, girls like Maria would never even have the opportunity of risking their lives in such a miserable way. It's definitely put guilt and thought towards those times I might have indulged in irrisponsible behavior in the past, so taking that into consideration, the film's done it's job.

Well, I think this is a great movie. It brilliantly depicts the real situation of a Colombian girl. For me, a Colombian, what is really touching is her condition through the movie. María has this problem with her work and her boss, these other two with her boyfriend, this other one with her sister, this other one with her mother, this other one with her money, the other one with her wishes to become stable, this other one with her girlfriend, and then she is about to have a thousand more with this people of the drug traffic business and with the traffic itself! To have a thousand problems at the same time is, sadly, not an exception, but the usual situation of the average Colombian! I mean, we strongly tend to have disorganized lives, with three, four, five concerns at a time, struggling and wandering through life with them. We are not organized, as people of the developed countries are accustomed to be. We always have problems. I'd say we love to have them. And we love to dig on other people's problems. It gives us a false sense of importance, as of being the stars of our own story.

Other typical Colombian attitudes are very well presented. One of them is impudence. For example, look at María's sister. She didn't do more than to ask for things! And, even further, she COMPLAINS!! Typical. Or Blanca's attitude. She pretends and pretends that she is very angry with Marìa, telling her offensive things, but she follows her everywhere! I can't tell you how typical this coward, illogical and annoying attitude is. Other one is to lie and to lie until everything falls by its own weight. Of course, all of these are generalizations. There are a lot of Colombian people who is not like that. But I am talking about what Colombian attitudes are depicted at the movie, and these really are. There are other good too, like the force to fight for what you want and to dream of progress, the cooperation and heart, the love for family, the piety, etc.

The movie is refreshing and free of gags and clichés. Well, actually it is very disturbing sometimes. But it is real. Like movies like "Ladri di biciclette", "Before Sunset" or "Lost in Translation" one can surely affirm that nothing of what happens of this movie could not have happened in real life. And there is nothing more moving than real life.

The story is great. The acting of Catalina is great. Actually, she doesn't look like acting. It's too real. Flaws? Well, the music is awful. Bogotá is not a land of salsa (besides, the only he ugliest parts of the city are shown). And the acting of particularly two other actors is bad, too. There are moments where the bad guys appear very much more compassionate than what they are in real life? But let's say that this is not a flaw.

With this movie, as with he magnificent Cidade de Deus, a quote, I think that from Tolstoi, keeps on being present and relevant: "If you want to be universal, write about your little village".

9/10

When I first heard about María Llena eres de Gracia and its subject, I had many doubts about the treatment of such a delicate subject and how Colombian this movie was, with a writer/director from the USA; but when I heard the interviews and read de reviews I got really interested in the film and went to see it as soon as I could.

The first thing that must be highlighted about this film is the treatment of the drug dealing problem. In this kind of movies is really easy to fall in the conventions and make a story full of clichés with police chases and all powerful heroes, but not, fortunately the director takes another perspective and gets into the life of the 'Mulas', and shows the whole picture without any prejudgment.

Is admirable how a person that had never been in Colombia, before the movie, understands the problem and shows it in a so delicate and powerful way, and is able to put it in the big screen without extremes so common in films about Latin America made by foreign directors, as an example watch Len Loach's Carla's Song.

The story of the movie is quite simple: a 17 years old girl has many economic problems and takes the 'mule' work as an opportunity to get the money she needs. The narration is lineal and relays absolutely in the work of the two main actresses, and this is the success of the movie, the work of the two girls is superb, they transmit lots of energy in the screen, and although sometimes the decisions of the characters are quite sudden, their interpretation makes them absolutely believable.

The movie changed the cover, for commercial reasons of course, and that is a shame, because the first one was really beautiful, it showed Maria in the airport in the middle of a group as if she were in a procession, but the new one although good is more obvious and drug oriented and lacks the delicacy of the film.

Let's wait for Mr Marston next movie.

It's COCAINE!

Small film about a big business.

Poverty, desperation and bravery spiral into a mess and culminate in pregnant 17-year-old Maria sitting in a room, trying to swallow 60 plastic capsules full of narcotics to smuggle for money. When she later on needs to swallow two more, it is a scene so painful that it is almost unbearable to watch. Maria: Full of Grace (2004) is a clear-eyed and relevant portrayal of a young girl in Columbia being exploited by the drug industry - in spite of its dark material, it projects a lot of heart and spirit.

They say that reality is often more frightening than fiction - and this is true for this film; it is so realistic and down-to-earth that it becomes harrowing in almost every scene. Catalina Sandino Moreno is fantastic as the dignified, brave Maria whose high-spirited nature propels the otherwise dark film. She is a girl who speaks little, but says so much. She knows what she needs to do, and she does it like she means business.

The above is also true for Joshua Marston's Maria: Full of Grace (2004) - it does not preach about morals; there is no melodrama, politics, sugar-coating romances or effects, but an understated yet brutal depiction of a young girl's journey in learning to cope and be responsible. Extremely well-crafted and important film that does not claim to be important, and that is endlessly refreshing.

8/10

I enjoyed this film. Though it was kind of slow in the beginning, (but somehow not too slow) kind of predictable (actually only towards the end) and kind of exaggerated, (only once as well).

I must say, that this film was so well made and the script and acting is so captivating that I on several occasions actually felt my heart beating furiously. And, there were parts where i was utterly repulsed, all feelings that were supposed to come through.

I read in someone else's comment that they felt as if they were watching a documentary, and I must agree. It is an interesting idea, considering that the way that all the characters are portrayed. The script is unbiased, its almost as if the actors sway your sympathy.

Excellent movie, just leaves you wanting more, and i would have preferred a more non-cliche, concrete ending.

"Maria Full of Grace" tells the tale of an impoverished 17 year old Colombian who becomes pregnant and, in need of money, signs on as a drug "mule", smuggling cocaine pellets into the US in her GI tract. An exceptional film for a low budget one man band indie with a deubting artist in the leading role, this film imparts a strong sense of been-there-done-that reality as it follows Maria from Bogota to New York where her life begins to unravel. Unusually well managed without being junked up with the usual Hollywood tawdry tinsel and situational extremes, this very human drama does more pound-for-pound than most films many times its size. Kudos to auteur Marston and company and ingenue Moreno for this interesting and enjoyable drama. (B+)

Maria Full of Grace is one of the better films of 2004: well acted, well written, and very unique in its' story. From the beginning to the end Joshua Marston chooses to present the story in a way that has us relating and sympathizing with Maria in her plight to find her place in the sun.

A very real topic with very real portrayal and acting, this is definitely one of the better films to come out. It presents its story at a quick pace and leaves you wanting more.

Overall, I enjoyed the film and recommend it to anyone in general, being a great triumph in film-making. I hope to see more films from Joshua Marston in the future.

In a small village in Colombia, the pregnant seventeen years old Maria (Catalina Sandino Moreno) supports her family with her salary working in a floriculture. She is fired and with a total lack of perspective of finding a new job, she decides to accept the offer to work as a drug mule, flying to USA with approx. seventy pellets of cocaine in her stomach. Once in New York, things do not happen as planned.

"Maria Full of Grace" is a very powerful and real movie about the lack of perspective in the life of teenagers in poor countries. The dramatic story takes place in Colombia and is based on real events, the use of poor people to transport drugs to United States of America. Once there, the poor adolescent sees a chance to join to the American Dream and give a better life to her unborn child and make money to send to her family. In my country, mules are not the problem, but the use of children, protected by law, by the dealers in the traffic of drugs. The story is very well written, and the movie has a stunning direction. Catalina Sandino Moreno has awesome performance and this film really deserves the nomination for Oscar and another twenty-seven (27) wins and twenty-one (21) nominations in Festivals. The title plays with the Catholic prayer "Ave Maria". My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil: "Maria Cheia de Graça" ("Maria Full of Grace")

This movie was powerful, seamless. I can't think of a scene where I asked myself, why did we need that? It was even-handed. The director could have dramatized the plight of María's family more. But he didn't. I didn't think a real-life Maria would have told Lucy's sister that Lucy had died and she didn't.

I liked seeing the crowding in the house in Colombia and in the house in Queens. The customs agents weren't portrayed as stupid boobs, but rather as professionals, thus making María's plight seem more real. Don Fernando's role seemed incredibly accurate as an immigrant ombudsman. And the ending was powerful. It touched me. I will take my students to see this movie this week. (I'm a high school teacher). When will they stop producing heroin and cocaine in Colombia? As soon as we here in the United States stop shoving it up our noses.

Once on the way back from an apparently dodgy region of Asia, I was stopped a strip-searched. The customs officers x-rayed all my belongings repeatedly but made a big deal over two items – a packet of condoms and a roll of dental floss. What did I use them for? 'What does anyone use them for?' I replied, totally puzzled. They pointed out that drugs could be put in condoms, tied with dental floss and swallowed. I retorted that if I ever wanted to smuggle drugs I would at least know how to do it thanks to their explanation.

Maria Full of Grace goes into a bit more detail on how, exactly, drugs are packaged in condoms and then smuggled in the stomach of 'mules' – willing operators who swallow them in one country and sh*t them out in another. It also includes some harrowing detail on how customs try to detect such operations and what happens if one of the packages bursts. It is not difficult for young Colombian girls such as Maria to be tempted. Their lives are filled with desperation, available work is scarce, and the ways to escape from the drudgery of life in their home country are few and far between. The simple and quite touching performance by Catalina Sandino Moreno as Maria earned her an Oscar nomination. And if you like Latin music, the soundtrack has some fine stuff. The overall feel is one of documentary story-telling with believable characters and understated drama. Maria Full of Grace is a quietly significant film that avoids moralising but lets the facts reveal the very real dilemmas. By humanising the 'mules', characters that are popularly demonised, we might question if more money might be put into humanitarian aid rather than military solutions and fumigation of coca fields. The grace that Maria ultimately finds is within herself and from herself; the development of her understanding and indeed her character can provide salutary lessons in getting a human perspective on the drug trade rather than the simplistic moral high ground of the well-to-do Westerner.

It probably sounds depressing -- three girls from a village in Colombia find themselves broke, are hired as mules to smuggle drugs into New York by swallowing little condoms full, get mixed up with unfeeling and possibly murderous receivers in America, and find themselves almost broke again, or worse.

But this is almost a documentary of what these young girls go through. You come away knowing the DETAILS of how this is all done. Of course we've heard of smuggling drugs in by swallowed condoms. It's in a famous early episode of "Law and Order." And breaking news has it that now dogs are being used -- the reporter always specifies that they are "puppies." But it's informative to see how the process actually works. The three girls we follow from Colombia to New York are not among the wretched poor. Maria, Blanca, and Luci are rather working class but their incomes are too low for them to manage a normal existence and swallowing some dope seems like an easy way to add enough to their incomes to keep their heads above water. The challenges facing them don't include starvation but less dramatic problems like having your electricity shut off.

I'll just mention one detail. I'd always thought that the organizer of the plan would dump a few teaspoons of coke into a condom, tie it off, snip off the excess, and -- voila! A container the size of a grape. But no. These guys are ergonomically sophisticated. There is a manual device that crimps off each stuffed and swollen condom at a length of about 2 inches. They're BIG bundles. The girls have to practice by eating large grapes. And the bundles are coated with oil so that they can be swallowed without activating the gag reflex. It's a pretty disgusting and humiliating experience, what with going through a customs office that knows very well you're carrying, and having to expel them while anxious dealers wait around for you. And of course, if one of the bundles suffers an untimely pop, well what happens to you is what happens to the puppies who are now being used.

But the movie isn't just educational in a narrow sense. Maria, a beautiful girl, is only 17 and pregnant. She's compliant but intelligent, and she retains her dignity. Luci gets sick and suffers the puppy treatment, leaving a bathtub of blood. Blanca, homely and plump and rather dumb, departs for Bogota. And Maria is left alone, friendless, and homeless in Queens. Now THAT is something that shouldn't happen to a dog. The scene is which she and Blanca part at Newark Airport is wordless and painful to watch.

The director handles all of this with simple restraint, wisely, because the narrative itself is strong enough to carry the movie. Maria may be strong but she's impulsive too -- that pregnancy, that decision to be a "mula". He doesn't preach at all. And there are no dazzling directorial displays. The director is a guy in charge of his talent. Maria may be full of grace but she is also full of a lot of other things -- a baby, heroin, resentment. And there is an almost unnoticeable commercial billboard behind her as she leaves Blanca, "It's What's Inside That Counts."

As Maria, Catalina Moreno seems both innocent and strong, poised as it were between the unfortunate child she's left behind and the hardened whore she is likely to become. She rarely loses composure. At first I thought it was because she simply was not a seasoned actress, but there is a scene in which she watches the ultrasound image of her fetus and she giggles a little and her face lights up with expectant happiness. It's the only time she grins in the entire movie and it makes her seem to glow joyously. And unthinkingly too. That baby is going to cost a fortune and probably won't go to Philips Andover.

It's a heartbreaking movie, really, but strangely not depressing. Some people are rotten, others are kindly, and most are just trying to get along. If it's depressing, well, so is life at the mall.

Even though this film is sociologically based on a reality faced and associated to Colombians it does not necessary reflect the current situation of Colombia.

I will like briefly to propose three different alternatives to describe it.

First, I would say that the film portrays a case study of the American Dream focused particularly on Colombians. And the issue drugs smuggling was introduced since it has been associated to Colombians. This film illustrates anthropological issues of migration, such as social networks connections, ethnicity associate to particular trade, etc.

Second, this is a film on transnational illegal markets. This film describes and provides a human face to the logistics of cocaine trafficking.

Third, this film could be also illustrates some of the negative consequences of globalization on labour conditions to individuals and communities in producing countries specifically in the cut flower industry.

My wife and I enjoyed this movie thoroughly. As a previous commenter said, you forget that you are watching a movie, sub-titles notwithstanding. Catalina Sandino Moreno provides a memorable performance, conveying as much in a glance as several lines of dialog would.

Was it just me, or did anyone else catch the irony of the product placement at the end of the movie? There is a scene of Maria in front of an Intel billboard, with the tag line "It's what's inside that counts." Maybe it was just serendipity on the part of the movie makers, but it certainly summarizes the reason for Maria's final choice, as well as the attitude of the people Maria worked for.

And yes, that's really my name ;-)

The director's debut describes the journey of a Colombian girl who lost her job and smuggled drugs into the US. A Spanish-language film, that pays attention to details, is realistic with restraint and touching. It reminds me of Boys Don't Cry (1999), the style is similar and the actresses are equally outstanding; later I learned that both cinematographers are Jim Denault, but this film is obviously better. (04/06)

There's not a moment in this movie that I found out of line or unrealistic. It makes you ask yourself "what would I do if this were my situation?" It is a perfectly normal portrait of how the other half has to live. The film has a slow desperation about it, without the usual modern artifacts like music or camera tricks. The desperation occurs from the story itself- how about that for a concept. The actors are tremendous in showing restraint and it pays off. The exchanges between the sisters are heartbreaking and frustrating and, again, believable. The scene in which a minor character dies could have been savagely shown, but instead only the aftermath was shown and described. It somehow makes what happened only that much more savage in our imaginations.