Teodora Miha imbues this harrowing tale of a mother’s search for justice with a documentarian’s gaze, in a solidly made descent into every parent’s worst nightmare
This film began life as a documentary about kidnaps for ransom, fuelled by narco violence in northern Mexico. But when cartels started following Belgian-Romanian director Teodora Mihai around she changed tack, turning her material into drama – working with Mexican scriptwriter Habacuc Antonio de Rosario. Still, the film’s nonfictional beginnings perhaps explain why Mihai tells her story not so much as a thriller but as a naturalistic-looking drama, intelligent and mostly absorbing. It’s inspired by true events, fictionalising the story of Miriam Rodríguez Martínez, a mother who hunted down the people responsible for the kidnap and murder of her 14-year-old daughter.
Arcelia Ramírez is outstanding as Cielo, a middle-aged woman whose daughter Laura goes missing. The next day a smirking,...
This film began life as a documentary about kidnaps for ransom, fuelled by narco violence in northern Mexico. But when cartels started following Belgian-Romanian director Teodora Mihai around she changed tack, turning her material into drama – working with Mexican scriptwriter Habacuc Antonio de Rosario. Still, the film’s nonfictional beginnings perhaps explain why Mihai tells her story not so much as a thriller but as a naturalistic-looking drama, intelligent and mostly absorbing. It’s inspired by true events, fictionalising the story of Miriam Rodríguez Martínez, a mother who hunted down the people responsible for the kidnap and murder of her 14-year-old daughter.
Arcelia Ramírez is outstanding as Cielo, a middle-aged woman whose daughter Laura goes missing. The next day a smirking,...
- 3/7/2022
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
A question as seemingly benign as “You’re Laura’s mother, right?” becomes the moment when Cielo’s life changes forever. The query, posed by a toothy-smiled young man, is born not out of curiosity but out of a need to make sure he’s found the right woman to extort. Even as he grins, there’s a sinister edge to his nonchalance when addressing Cielo, who slowly starts piecing together what’s afoot. Laura did not return home the night before and, as the cocksure young man soon informs her, she never will unless Cielo can come up with an exorbitant ransom fee.
What follows may well be accurately described as a revenge narco-western set in Northern Mexico. But such a synopsis risks sensationalizing the subject matter of “La Civil” and flattening its aesthetic prowess. Just as a mundane interaction kicks off a harrowing search that will leave Cielo...
What follows may well be accurately described as a revenge narco-western set in Northern Mexico. But such a synopsis risks sensationalizing the subject matter of “La Civil” and flattening its aesthetic prowess. Just as a mundane interaction kicks off a harrowing search that will leave Cielo...
- 8/23/2021
- by Manuel Betancourt
- Variety Film + TV
Based on the real-life experiences of a mother in Mexico, Romanian director Teodora Ana Mihai dives deep into the brutal and violent conditions surrounding life in Northern Mexico. Co-written by Habacuc Antonio De Rosario the film follows Cielo (Arcelia Ramírez) who, after the kidnapping of her daughter and lack of help from the authorities, ends up in a relentless search through a society crippled by systemic violence. Her journey reveals open wounds to which the population has become all too accustomed, drawing a keen picture of the idiosyncrasies that spring from said violence.
Produced by Hans Everaert’s Menuetto alongside One For the Road and some stellar names: Les Films du Fleuve (the Dardenne brothers), Mobra Films (Christian Mungiu) and Teorema Films (Michel Franco), the feature marks Mihai’s jump to fiction after having won at Karlovy Vary with her documentary “Waiting for August.” An auteur and female twist on...
Produced by Hans Everaert’s Menuetto alongside One For the Road and some stellar names: Les Films du Fleuve (the Dardenne brothers), Mobra Films (Christian Mungiu) and Teorema Films (Michel Franco), the feature marks Mihai’s jump to fiction after having won at Karlovy Vary with her documentary “Waiting for August.” An auteur and female twist on...
- 7/9/2021
- by Emiliano Granada
- Variety Film + TV
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