THE MAID (LA NANA) (Chile/Mexico 2009) ***** Top 10
Directed by Sebastian Silva

It is very rarely that a seemingly effortless made film covers the raw emotions of vindictiveness, cunning and kindness.  The Golden Globe Nominee for Best Foreign Film THE MAID (LA NANA) from Chile is such a movie.  Cruel, compelling but ultimately charming, this true-to-life tale is clearly one film that will hit you hard.  But in a good way!

THE MAID tells the story of a 40-ish employee, Raquel (Catalina Saavedra) who is working for an affluent Chilean household for over 20 years at present.  She has witnessed the birth of most of the children and has attained the position of ‘untouchable’ in the family.  When Raquel starts getting dizzy spells from her migraines, Pilar, the mother or family matriarch (Claudia Celedon) hires a second help.  This is where the film starts to grab the audience.  Worried, Raquel turns into a super bi**h, protecting her territory and terrorizing the poor new Peruvian help in what could have turned into a horror shocker.  If not locking Mercedes (Mercedes Villanueva) outside, she is insulting her by disinfecting every area she has been besides throwing in degrading remarks.  (I do not speak Spanish but I am sure there would be a few racial remarks in the exchange of words.)

The film gets better and better.  When Camilla finally quits, the family hires another maid – this time, also a super bit*h to match Raquel’s behaviour.  Raquel tries the same tactics – locking Sonia (Anita Reeves) outside, disinfecting and commanding her to do lowly chores.  But when Sonia finally quits and the third maid is hired, Raquel faces something she has never expected – love and affection from Lucy (Mariana Loyola).  Director Silva is an excellent storyteller utilizing familiar territory (the birthday parties, another example) to get his points across.

THE MAID is performed remarkably well by Saavedra who was nominated for a Best Actress Globe.  But it is Silva who works his magic forcing the evil ‘head’ of the household to look into her inner self.  Silva never forces his audience to judge Raquel but rather to understand the motives behind her actions.

The capitalist heads (father and mother) of the family are also displayed as human beings and not brutes blind to their surroundings or emotions.  Faults and all, they serve an effective force affecting Raquel’s behaviour.  Pilar, for example, always protects Raquel to the point of counter-productivity. 

Hollywood would have made THE MAID into a horror thriller like THE STEPFATHER or THE ORPHAN in which a single person creates havoc on a loving family.  It takes Chile to show Hollywood that a better film like this one could be made, a drama on the human condition – one that is real and emotional but yet never sentimental. In return, the moving and compelling LA NANA will put Chile on the moviemaking map as one remarkable quiet masterpiece in moviemaking.