By Roger Costa
LIBERTAD
Mostly known for her dynamic and massively awarded screenwriting credits including “Costa Brava, Lebanon”, “The Offering” and “Creatura”, Spanish writer-director Clara Rouquet makes an enigmatic directorial debut with this delicate, subtly erotic and utterly engaged exploration on the feminine universe.
Nominated for the Cannes Critic’s Week Grand Prize and Camera d’Or Award, Rouquet immerses the audience in the center of an emotional storm experienced by the coming of age of a young girl. Nora (Maria Morera) is a quiet, shy and fragile girl who’ll be challenged by the circumstances of becoming a woman. She is seeking for the best options out there to escape. She must learn how to deal with her parents’ marital crisis, the rapid changing of her body, the surge of uncontrollable hormones and unexpected desires, and the fear of abandonment. She is also suffering as her grandmother’s illness becomes severe, gradually losing her memory. When she meets Libertad (Nicolle Garcia), who is basically the opposite, she finds opportunity to escape and to discover herself. A strong friendship and special bond ensue as the girls spend their summer hours looking for excitement and new adventures.
Fueled by a subtle sexual tension very present in the girls’ behavior and perpetual sense of curiosity, rebellion and impulse, Rouquet crafts an intimate multi-faceted and transgenerational study on the female universe: the grisl are the center of the “storm”, though the other female characters also serve as important representations of resilience and resistance; Rouquet approaches the themes involving the adults through the girls’ candid perspective- they are not sure of what’s going on, but they have their take on it.
The mother with a secret affair, the maid who’s been fighting for respect and equality, the ailing grandmother losing conciousness. Rouquet looks at them with compassion and grace, delivering empathic supporting characters. And the actors give their best, in accurate, sensitive performances- in special the two young actresses who convincingly navigate the pleasures and challenges of being a teenager.
Winner of the Goya Award for Best New Director, “Libertad” announces Rouquet as a solid, highly qualified cinematic force.
(Premieres Exclusively on FILM MOVEMENT PLUS on 8/2 )
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