The Three Marias Movie Review:


Stylishly filmed and full of passion and emotion, this is also the blackest of black comedies. The film opens with the three grisly deaths of a man and his two sons. His widow (Severo) is understandably distraught, and asks her three daughters to get revenge on the men responsible. The eldest, Maria Francisca (Lemmertz), is sent to find a notorious hitman (Diaz) so he can take care of the villainous ringleader Formino (Vereza). Maria Rosa (Mendonca) goes after a cop (Andrada) who can help find Formino's older son (Carneiro). And Maria Pia has to help the convict Jesuino (Moura) escape from prison and track down the younger brother (Limma). Got that? Well, nothing at all goes as planned. And then we discover why all this happened to begin with.

The film has a lurid, epic quality to it that immediately draws us in--saturated colours, lush music and an absurd sense of humour soak the film, as well as visceral longing of biblical proportions. This is a life-or-death struggle with justice, and it's in the hands of the women. Because all the men are gripped by weakness, stupidity, arrogance and/or lust. It's a very physical film, and in this sense it does draw us in. But it strangely shies away from any real tenderness, and it's very harshly edited. For such a complex storyline we leap and bound through the plot, skipping key scenes and only filling in some of the gaps later. This is somewhat irritating, because it is so beautifully filmed, and the examination of the nature of vengeance is rich and powerful. But it leaves us feeling like we missed something.

Rich Cline

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