Spanish cinema has gone through a period of looking back to tell incredible summer adventures, as happened in the notable ‘Once Upon a Time in the Basque Country’, ‘Oliver’s Universe’ and ‘Live Is Life’. Now it is the turn of ‘Llenos de grace’, whose charm differs clearly from the others as it is a story based on real eventsin addition to telling a captivating summer adventure in which a group of children learn to play as a team and, moreover, claim the tutor, the teacher, as fundamental in the development of minors, especially those considered conflictual.
The central story tells how the Sister Marina arrives in a congregation that takes care of the El Parral school, which also serves as a boarding school for children who have no parents or whose parents cannot take care of them. Children are confined to the schoolyard during the summer holidays, which makes them out of control, as the school works at half speed. The film uses the formula of the teacher arriving in a classroom that is difficult to tell a captivating story, full of emotions, which knows how to use the conventions of wellness cinema to create a story full of passion and affection with its protagonists.
Here you can see the magic of his screenplay, written by the director Roberto Bueso and Óscar Díaz, who manage in their commitment to focus attention both on the minor protagonists and on the Carmen Machi, a true conductor who exudes warmth with one of her most captivating roles. In a way, she is reminiscent of the effort Whoopi Goldberg put into the “Sister Act” sequel. because his students were proud of their roots and took advantage of it to create a common melody. In the case of ‘Llenos degracia’, this happens with football, a passion that unites these orphans, who live from very small realities that make them see life in a pessimistic way.
A beautiful family story full of emotions
Bueso sets up a family tale that hits the key to being exciting without reaching cloying; He knows how to show some children who are not saints, but not even devils, and the most essential thing: remember that the figure of the teacher is fundamental, the one who knows how to bring out the best from his students. Here, “Full of Grace” can be combined with stories of difficult students who are able to see the world differently thanks to their teachers, playing along the lines of “Professor Lazhar” or “The Choir Boys”with the addition of being a story based on real events, which tells the childhood of Valdo, current player of CD Izarra, but who was in the First Division, playing for clubs like Real Madrid or Osasuna.
With a splendid Carmen Machi; a team of young actors full of talent and energy, amazes how children manage to convey a dramatic situation and smile at the same time; and some secondary luxuries, with a candid Paula Usero, a severe Nuria González and a charming Pablo Chiapella; ‘Full of Grace’ is, without a doubt, a fabulous summer adventure, that example of a film that achieves the complicated balance between arthouse and commercial cinema. A proposal that reminds us that, in the industry, those ‘bourgeois’ films seek and claim their presence at a tremendously fruitful moment for the box office.
Note: 7
The best: The passion and dedication that Carmen Machi transmits, her optimistic and positive message.
Worse: Underestimate it for its commercial nature or for the fact that it uses cinematic wellness conventions.
Source: E Cartelera
