Why is it that Michael and I commonly find ourselves flocking to films that feature nubile young girls, coming of age and destined to discover their own sexuality? Well, it's because we're a couple of 30-year-old perverts, that's why. But seriously, it's either that or a handful of 8-year-old blowjobs as in Mysterious Skin. I kid though, I kid because I love...and because I'm REALLY starting to feel uncomfortable right now. All joking aside, children embody a special kind of innocence. And it's a portion of our lives that we all hold close, whether our experiences were good or bad. We suffered through the trials and tribulations of coming of age, no matter who we are and for the most part, our experiences remain vastly different from one another. When a filmmaker attempts to translate this portion of life to film (through personal experiences or invention), I'm interested. This is at least my feeling, and the reason I jumped at the chance to attend a screening of The Holy Girl. Unfortunately, it would ultimately turn out, that we were being misled.

The potential here is absolutely priceless. María Alche stars as Amalia, a young girl with a strict Catholic upbringing, living in a huge hotel operated by her divorced mother (Mercedes Morán). Just starting to blossom, Amalia's interests are peaked when an older man rubs up against her one day, apparently in search of a cheap thrill. Amalia finds more in this chance encounter, confused by her own feelings and that of what the Church teaches her. The stranger, Dr. Jano (Carlos Belloso) is a married man, attending a medical convention at Amalia's mother's hotel. Hilarity ensues...or not.

Holy Crap! This Movie Sucks!

Is this film about us, or our perverted penis-poking parents? (Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Film Society)

The festival guide's description makes claims such as "[The film] intimately explores the burgeoning sexuality and religious fervor of two teenage girls" and "Sexuality and spirituality propel this South American coming-of-age drama, a meditation on personal allegiance, family devotion and the rules of attraction" While some of this may be true (not much of it mind you), the film itself still focuses less on the coming-of-age aspect than it does the adults themselves and how they deal with their own primal fears and sexual desires, towards each other and the children. Which would be fine...in another movie. Just not one that promotes itself as otherwise.

Adding all of this misinformation to the films' slow pace, which makes sitting through this work as close to an unbearable experience as one can imagine. It's not just the slow pace either; it's the fact that the adult characters are far less interesting or likable than their younger counterparts. As interested as I was when the film would shift focus back to the teens, the whole affair was cheapened by the lackluster characterization that was bestowed upon the adults. I don't even know if it's worth mentioning the relationship between Josefina (a school chum played by Julieta Zylberberg) and Amalia. Despite the fact that the film opens and closes with a point on their relationship, there is very little in between to support it.

Not much can be found to support director Lucrecia Martel's latest directorial effort. It's an effort that has been marketed wrong and has very little to offer on any level. It's a slow, uninteresting, uninspired and most of all, uninvolved piece of work that I cannot NOT recommend enough. Truly a sad disappointment.

Thumbs Down What more can I say, that hasn't already been said?