Salve Maria
{{Short description|2024 Spanish drama film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Salve Maria
| image = Salve Maria poster.jpg
| caption = Film poster
| director = Mar Coll
| writer =
| screenplay = {{Plainlist|
- Mar Coll
- Valentina Viso }}
| story =
| based_on = {{based_on|Amek ez dute|Katixa Agirre}}
| producer = {{Plainlist|
- Sergi Casamitjana
- María Zamora}}
| starring = {{Plainlist|
}}
| narrator =
| cinematography = Nilo Zimmermann
| editing = Aina Calleja
| music = Zeltia Montes
| studio = {{Plainlist|
- Escándalo Films
- Elastica Films }}
| distributor = Elastica Films
| released = {{Film date|2024|08|8|Locarno|2024|10|31|Spain|df=yes}}
| runtime = 111 minutes
| country = Spain
| language = {{Plainlist|
- Catalan
- Spanish
}}
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Salve Maria is a 2024 Spanish drama film directed, co-written by Mar Coll starring Laura Weissmahr. Based on the novel Amek ez dute by Basque writer Katixa Agirre,{{Cite web|url=https://www.eitb.eus/es/cultura/cine/detalle/9540006/salve-maria-pelicula-basada-en-amek-ez-dute-de-katixa-agirre-participara-en-festival-de-locarno/|website=EiTB|date=11 July 2024|access-date=1 August 2024|title='Salve Maria', la película basada en 'Amek ez dute' de Katixa Agirre, participará en el Festival de Locarno|trans-title= 'Salve Maria', the film based on 'Amek ez dute' by Katixa Agirre, will participate in the Locarno Festival|language=es}} it follows Maria (Weissmahr), a promising young writer and new mother, who becomes obsessed by the case of a woman who drowned her twins in the bathtub.{{Cite web|url=https://cineuropa.org/film/464798/ |title= Salve Maria |first= Mar|last= Coll |date=10 July 2024|access-date=26 July 2024 |website= Cineuropa |language=en}} The film competed for Golden Leopard in main competition of 77th Locarno Film Festival{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/locarno-international-film-festival-2024-lineup-melanie-laurent-1235941214/ |last=Szalai |first=Georg |title=Locarno Fest Lineup Includes Hong Sang-soo, Paz Vega Films, Honors for Mélanie Laurent, Guillaume Canet|date=10 July 2024 |access-date=26 July 2024 |agency= The Hollywood Reporter}} and had its world premiere on 8 August 2024.{{Cite web|url=https://www.locarnofestival.ch/festival/program/film.html?fid=f4ab7dc8-bad5-4180-959b-629c712616c4&l=en&eid= |title= Salve Maria |website=Locarno Film Festival|date=July 8, 2024|access-date=July 27, 2024|language=en}} It is mostly shot in Catalan.
Synopsis
Maria, a talented young author and new mother, comes across a disturbing headline: a French woman has drowned her 10-month-old twins in the bathtub. This horrifying event captures Maria's thoughts, turning into an all-consuming fixation. She grapples with the question: Why did the woman commit such an act? From then on, the shadow of infanticide hangs over Maria's existence, haunting her.
Cast
- Laura Weissmahr as Maria Agirre{{Cite web|url=https://www.otroscines.com/nota-20579-criticas-de-competencia-internacional-salve-maria-de-ma|website=Otros Cines|title=Críticas de Competencia Internacional: "Salve María", de Mar Coll; y "La Mort viendra", de Christoph Hochhäusler - #Locarno2024|first=Diego|last=Batlle|date=8 August 2024}}
- Oriol Pla as Nico
- Giannina Fruttero as Ana
- Belén Cruz
Production
Salve Maria marks the return of Mar Coll to the cinema. Produced by Escándalo Films and Elastica Films with the support of ICEC and ICAA, and the participation of RTVE and Movistar Plus+.{{Cite web|url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/455436/ |title= Mar Coll returns to cinema with Salve Maria|first= Alfonso |last= Rivera |date=25 January 2024|access-date=27 July 2024 |website= Cineuropa |language=en}}
Mar Coll talking to Variety about the protagonist said, "María is a repentant mother, an association of words that generates automatic unease".{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2024/awards/global/locarno-lineup-melanie-laurent-guillaume-canet-1236064116/ |title= Locarno Reveals Lineup, Names Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet for Career Achievement Awards |author= Marta Balaga |work= Variety|date= 10 July 2024 |access-date= 27 July 2024 |language=en}}
Filming began in the last week of January 2024 in Barcelona, La Vall de Boí (Lleida Pyrenees) and Tarragona.{{Cite web|url=https://www.elseptimoarte.net/noticias/actualidad/comienza-el-rodaje-de-las-madres-no-la-nueva-pelicula-de-mar-coll-47099.html |title=Comienza el rodaje de 'Las madres no', la nueva película de Mar Coll|trans-title= Filming begins on 'Las madres no', the new film by Mar Coll |website= The Seventh Art |date= 24 January 2024 |access-date= 27 July 2024|language=es}}
Release
Salve Maria premiered on 8 August 2024, as part of the 77th Locarno Film Festival, in Competition.{{Cite web|url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/464831 |title= EXCLUSIVE: First clip for Locarno entry Salve Maria |date=26 July 2024|access-date=27 July 2024 |website= Cineuropa |language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.noticiasdealava.eus/cultura/2024/08/09/mar-coll-estrena-locarno-vision-8570511.html|website=Noticias de Álava|date=9 August 2024|title=Mar Coll estrena en Locarno su visión de 'Las madres no'|first=Carlos|last=González}} It also made it to the official selection slate of the 69th Valladolid International Film Festival.{{Cite web|url=https://www.elmundo.es/cultura/cine/2024/08/26/66cc6ee2e85eced8508b457b.html|website=El Mundo|date=26 August 2024|title=Paz Vega, Carlos Marques-Marcet y Mar Coll entre los directores del extraordinario despliegue de títulos españoles para la 69 edición de Seminci|trans-title=Paz Vega, Carlos Marques-Marcet y Mar Together with the directors of the extraordinary description of Spanish titles for the 69th edition of Seminci}}
The film will be released on 31 October 2024 in theatres by Elastica Films.{{cite web|url=https://x.com/ElasticaFilms/status/1836694419749155124 |title=SALVE MARIA, de Mar Coll, os presenta esta maravilla de póster. Y tiene nueva fecha de estreno en cines: 31 de octubre|trans-title=SA LVE MARIA, by Ma r Coll, presents this wonderful poster. And it has a new release date in theaters: October 31st |date=19 September 2024|access-date=7 October 2024| work=Elastica Films|publisher= X |language=es}}
Reception
Mariana Hristova reviewing the film at Locarno for Cineuropa indicated that while the script is skillfully written and effectively portrays the protagonist's intense emotions, the focus on symptoms rather than delving into the underlying reasons for the character's emotional breakdown feels superficial. The obvious pressures of personal time constraints and societal expectations related to motherhood are explored, but deeper analysis is lacking.{{Cite web|url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/465176 |title= Review: Salve Maria|first=Mariana |last= Hristova |date=8 August 2024|access-date=10 August 2024 |website= Cineuropa}}
Jonathan Holland of ScreenDaily described Salve Maria as a film "whose concerns feel totally in tune with the times".{{Cite web|website=ScreenDaily|first=Jonathan|last=Holland|url=https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/salve-maria-valladolid-review/5198348.article|date=24 October 2024|title='Salve Maria': Valladolid Review}}
Beatriz Martínez of Fotogramas rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, deeming it to be a "dark, tremendously disturbing, suffocating work that talks about motherhood and postpartum depression in an unprecedented way".{{Cite web|website=Fotogramas|first=Beatriz|last=Martínez|title=Crítica de 'Salve María', una de las películas más valientes del cine español reciente que habla de la maternidad y de la depresión posparto de una manera inédita|date=31 October 2024|url=https://www.fotogramas.es/peliculas-criticas/a62705842/salve-maria-critica-pelicula/}}
Philipp Engel of Cinemanía rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, declaring it "impeccable in its form".{{Cite web|website=Cinemanía|via=20minutos.es|url=https://www.20minutos.es/cinemania/criticas/critica-salve-maria-mar-coll-atraccion-abismo-reivindicacion-feminista-5648826/|date=30 October 2024|title=Crítica de 'Salve María': clásica atracción por el abismo con elementos del género y reivindicación feminista|first=Philipp|last=Engel}}
Carmela López Lobo of La Razón rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, highlighting "Laura Weissmahr's excellent work" and the "deeply unsettling" nature of the film as its best.{{Cite web|first=Carmela|last=López Lobo|url=https://www.larazon.es/cultura/critica-salve-maria-peor-cara-maternidad_2024110167248bb92914190001e7fba4.html|website=La Razón|date=1 November 2024|title=Crítica de "Salve María": la peor cara de la maternidad ★★★★}}
Elsa Fernández-Santos of El País wrote that the chilling picture "confronts the viewer with the tragedy of a woman dragged into the repulsion of her own flesh".{{Cite web|website=El País|date=31 October 2024|first=Elsa|last=Fernández-Santos|url=https://elpais.com/cultura/2024-10-31/salve-maria-mar-coll-compone-un-escalofriante-cuadro-sobre-las-tinieblas-de-la-maternidad.html|title='Salve María': Mar Coll compone un escalofriante cuadro sobre las tinieblas de la maternidad}}
Accolades
File:Goyas 2025 - Laura Weissmahr 02.jpg at the 39th Goya Awards in February 2025]]
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title}}
- {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
Category:Films shot in the province of Barcelona
Category:Films shot in the province of Tarragona
Category:Films shot in the province of Lleida
Category:2020s Catalan-language films
Category:2020s Spanish-language films
Category:Films based on Spanish novels
Category:Films scored by Zeltia Montes