Dir: Mar Coll | Spain, drama 110’
Ever thought of killing someone dear to you? Mar Coll is a Goya awarded Catalan filmmaker competing in this year’s Golden Leopard competition and her latest feature Salve Maria certainly presents a convincing portrait of a woman on the edge with murder in mind .
Based on a novel by Basque writer Katixa Agirre it follows Maria a new mother struggling with her baby: the breastfeeding, the gruelling tiredness; the constant grizzling are all getting her down. And you really feel for her. So when she hears about the case of a French mother, accused of murdering her infant twins, Maria is shocked but not altogether surprised.
Maria becomes increasingly obsessed by this terrible crime and begins to fantasise about her own stressful situation until the idea of killing seems less outlandish than she originally thought. A grave orchestral score strikes the sombre mood lifting this domestic thriller elevating into much darker territory despite a rather underwhelming denouement. @MeredithTaylor
LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL | INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION