THE Argentine drama “Live-In Maid” is low-key yet has a lot to say about class struggle, as embodied by once well-off divorcee Beba (Norma Aleandro) and her family’s longtime (30 years!) maid, Dora (Norma Argentina).
It’s 2001, and Beba, like so many others in Argentina, is struggling through the country’s economic decline. Beba hasn’t paid Dora in seven months, and her phone service has been cut off. To make ends meet, classy Beba is forced to sell her jewelry and peddle cosmetics.
Despite the lack of pay, Dora continues to keep the apartment tidy and serve Beba her quota of tea and whisky. But enough is enough – and Dora finally calls it quits. What happens next is both surprising and reassuring.
“Live-In Maid” is the feature debut of director-writer Jorge Gaggero, whose style is best described as conventional.
He’s saved by the two Normas – veteran actress Aleandro (described in the press notes as a cross between Meryl Streep and Penelope Cruz) and maid-turned-thespian Argentina.
They take what could be clichéd characters and turn them into living, breathing people that viewers can care about.
vam@btc365-futebol.com
LIVE-IN MAID
***
Maid in Argentina.
In Spanish, with English subtitles. Running time: 83 minutes. Not rated (mature themes). At Film Forum, Houston Street, west of Sixth Avenue.