Maria Full of Grace

Director: Joshua Marston

Overview

"New York-based writer/director Joshua Marston makes his feature film debut with the coming-of-age drama Maria Full of Grace, with a script developed at the Sundance Screenwriter's Lab. Catalina Sandino Moreno plays Maria Alvarez, a teenager living in Bog

Product Details

Release Date:	12/07/2004
UPC:	0026359192722
Original Release:	2003
Rating:	R
Source:	Hbo Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:41:00
Sales rank:	59,589

Special Features

Closed Caption;The original theatrical and international trailers; Audio commentary with writer/director Joshua Marston

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Catalina Sandino Moreno	Maria
Yenny Paola Vega	Blanca
Virgina Ariza	Juana,Actor
Johanna Andrea Mora	Diana
Wilson Guerrero	Juan
John Alex Toro	Franklin
Guilied Lopez	Lucy
Patricia Rae	Carla
Fernando Velasquez	Pablo
Orlando Tobon	Don Fernando
Jaime Osorio Gomez	Javier
Mateo Suarez	Baby Pancho,Baby Pancho
Juana Guarderas	Female Pharmacist
Rodrigo Sanchez Borhorquez	Supervisor
Charles Albert Patino	Felipe
Evangelina Morales	Rosita
Victor Macias	Pellet Maker
Hugo Ferro	Pharmacist
Ana Maria Acosta	Stewardess
Ada Vergara De Solano	Carolina
Maria Consuelo Perez	Constanza
Ed Trucco	Customs Inspector
Selenis Leyva	Customs Inspector
Juan Porras Hincapie	Wilson
Oscar Bejarano	Carlos
Singkhan Bandit	Gas Attendant
Patrick Rameau	Taxi Driver
Monique Curnen	Receptionist
Lourdes Martin	Doctor
Osvaldo Plasencia	Enrique
Eddie Trucco	Customs Inspector
Jacobo Lieberman	Composer
Leonardo Heiblum	Composer

Technical Credits

Joshua Marston

Ellyn Long Marshall	Casting
Paul Mezey	Producer
Maria E. Nelson	Casting,Casting
Joshua Marston	Screenwriter
Jorge Valencia	Casting
Maria Eugenia Salazar	Casting
El Barco Producciones	Casting
Alex Wolfe	Sound/Sound Designer

Scene Index

Side #1 --
1. Maria and Blanca [6:01]
2. Looking for Something More [8:25]
3. With Child [8:58]
4. A New Mule [5:49]
5. Nervous Determination [5:56]
6. Preparing [3:53]
7. 62 Pellets [6:46]
8. Stay Calm [6:58]
9. The Interrogation [4:40]
10. Wake Up [2:07]
11. Only for a Few Days [8:01]
12. Faith in Fernando [8:10]
13. Lucy Is Found [7:05]
14. Mourning the Loss [6:41]
15. Full of Grace [5:09]
16. End Credits [2:19]

Menu

Side #1 --
Play Movie
Chapters
Special Features
Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Joshua Marston
Original Theatrical Trailer
International Trailer
Languages
Audio
Spanish 5.1
Spanish 2.0
Subtitles
English
French
Spanish
Subtitles: Off

Editorial Reviews

Joshua Marston's dramatically potent Maria Full of Grace could easily have been a preachy issue film, but the filmmaker's eye and ear for authentic detail and believable characterization, the exquisite lead performance of Catalina Sandina Moreno (in her film debut), and the typically crisp, immediate handheld camerawork of genius cinematographer Jim Denault (Boys Don't Cry) make the film an unusually tough and gritty slice of underworld life. The horrific situation in which Maria finds herself stems organically from her steely temperament and her desperate, unfulfilled circumstances. Moreno's assured performance conveys both Maria's tough willfulness and her underlying uncertainty. Marston's film is at its strongest in focusing on the small, fascinating details of Maria's life, as she gives up demeaning sweatshop labor at a rose plantation to enter the drug trade. The scenes of heroin being processed and ingested for transport by Maria in her newfound occupation are darkly fascinating, as are the excruciatingly tense scenes that follow on the airplane, and at the airport after Maria arrives in New York. Some elements of the coming-of-age story are familiar, but Marston's attention to detail and the film's effective naturalistic presentation make it all very fresh and gripping.