Madraza (aka Godmother) is a crime film from Argentina that I liked watching. It is a story about a woman who loses her husband to a street mugger, deciding to pull herself up, she ends up as a hired assassin herself. In parallel, is a romantic relationship that keeps developing between her and the police inspector who is assigned to investigate the case.

Just with the first scene, the Director establishes Matilde’s character, the love she has for her husband, and her caring nature shown by the affection she shows for her god-daughter. From there, the movie proceeds briskly, not wasting a minute, yet displaying love, tragedy, loss, revenge, action and some comedy too in this film that runs for 95 minutes. Matilde’s (protagonist) role was a complex one, starting with affection, it moves on to sadness, then to bravery, Actress Loren Acuña has done them all exceptionally well – initially her character shows her as a fat lady, then she joins a martial arts class, loses weights and also learns to perform stunts.

You might be right in saying the story is not unique, it is NOT, the reason the film by Director Hernan Aguilar shines is due to the straightforward, uncomplicated screenplay – films like this prove what a good screenplay can add to a film.

Categorized in: