Institute History
Description
Maria Novaro's first feature is a simple. eloquent story of a relationship between a young mother and her daughter. Told with great sensitivity and understatement, the film is a stark and uncompromising take on modem Mexico and the problems a modern, independent woman confronts in the face of a harsh, uncaring society. This story of pained confusion, erratic relationships, and youthful despair is told without a trace of sentimentality or condescension, hut with warm humanity. The film is centered around Lola and her world. She is involved with a rock musician, but their days are obviously numbered when he fails to appear for Christmas. Upset and disoriented, Lola sees her relationship with her five-year-old daughter, Ana, deteriorating. Lola supports herself by selling clothes on the streets of Mexico City. The pressures grow too great; Lola runs away from her life and her daughter. Her trip to the ocean is a frenzied retreat from responsibility, but it forces her to confront what she wants to do with her life. Set against a Mexico City still affected by the 1985 earthquake, Lola captures the reality of Mexico's marginals, forced to eke out a living on the fringes of a society that ignores them.