Gloria

Challenging screen roles for actresses of a certain age has been one of the perennial complaints of many industry females over 40 (see the profiles from Locarno of Faye Dunaway and Jacqueline Bisset).

Now along comes Gloria to prove they do exist. Sebastián Lelio’s rendering of the evolution of a 58-year-old divorcee provides the gift of a character for Paulina García, who seizes it with every fibre of her being.

She gives performance of unswerving honesty and intelligence in a film that never puts a note out of place as the narrative explores of the maturing of sexual desire, the ache for companionship and ongoing relationships with children and family.

Gloria attends a Santiago dance club for singles, also of a certain age, where she occasionally has a mild flirtation rather than anything serious. Her son Pedro (Diego Fontecilla) is a single father whse partner is out of the frame. Her daughter Ana (Fabiola Zamora) is a yoga instructor and has hooked up with a Swedish ski enthusiast.

Gloria's routine is thrown out of kilter when she meets Rodolfo (Sergio Hernandez), recently separated from his wife and ready to seek a new partner after gastric by-pass surgery. He is soft-spoken, owns a local fun park and has a gentle sense of humour.

The romance blossoms yet Gloria finds his inability to communicate the new relationship to his demanding grown-up daughters could prove to be a significant hurdle.

The script is beautifully nuanced, looking perceptively at the behavioural patterns and emotions of the middle-aged subjects while the camerawork in the bedroom scenes is both realistic and discreet. Latin American pop music helps to drive the narrative.

Onscreen for almost the entirety of the film, it is García who mesmerises and pulls you in to the character without resorting to any tricks of the trade. She is unshowy, entirely self-possessed and utterly without vanity.

The film is both smart and sensitive and also provides as a background the political issues of a country still coming to terms with liberation – not unlike Gloria herself.