The Maid (La nana)

Despite living in London and being a massive fan, world cinema can sometimes pass me by. Often only showing in a couple of cinemas for a couple of weeks, you really have to be on your guard. For my sins, I missed the Chilean film, The Maid, which hit theatres at the end of August last year. Garlanded with great reviews by film critics and “certified fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, I knew it was going to be interesting if nothing else. However, I wasn’t really prepared for liking it as much as I did.

Set almost entirely in the house in which she works and calls home, La nana tells the story of forty-something Raquel, the maid to an upper-class family in Santiago. Through a birthday scene at the beginning, we discover that she has been working for the family for almost all of her adult life, maintaining only distant contact with her own family. She is shy, awkward and nervous – characteristics that only become heightened when the mother suggests they hire another maid to help out. Through clashes with some of the four children and the new employees, we see Raquel’s world and her mind begin to unravel. as Raquel’s health begins to worsen, her brusque exchanges with her employers and increasingly sadistic treatment of others often threatens to bubble over into psychopath territory.

Despite being shot through with scenes of genuine comedy, the thriller-ish elements of the psychological drama dominate. Through the seemingly haphazard and gradual release of information, another image of Raquel and her life begins to form. This Hemingway-esque iceberg effect felt in the snatches of dialogue and the accretion of information marks Sebastián Silva out as a talent to watch. Is the nature of the work responsible for the stultification and infantilization of the maid? Is it some deep-seated childhood trauma? Is it a problem with society?

The movie largely shies away from socio-economic class criticism as the family are so accommodating and forgiving. There may be a touch with the ice-queen aristocratic grandmother, though, as she seems a blunt relic of a bygone age. Through a clever script and terrific acting by lead, Catalina Saavedra, the movie holds you attention for all of its 90-odd minutes. So well formed was it that I was still thinking about it for days after.

Odd, tense and utterly original – try and find this film, if you can. I know I am annoyed it took me so long to get my hands on it.