The Desert Bride (La Novia del Desierto) (2017)
Overview
The Desert Bride La Novia del Desierto is director Cecilia Atan and Valeria Pivato’ s film from Chile Argentina. The drama focuses on a maid who has rendered years of service to a family and becomes redundant. She is 54 years old and her name is Teresa. Ready to take a job in San Juan, she has the bad luck of losing her bag at a market somewhere in the desert. There she meets El Gringo, a drifter who soon becomes her husband. Their ongoing voyage together develops into their expedition of tenderness, intimacy, and self comprehensiveness.
Awards and Achievements
The film was critically appreciated and was awarded the following credits:
- Best Director from Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival (2017).
- Best International Film at the Valladolid International Film Festival (2017).
- ACIE Award to the Best Actress Paulina Garcia, who plays primarily Teresa. This character was appreciated by audiences at many international film festivals and other competitive events.
Cast & Crew
- Directors: Cecilia Atán, Valeria Pivato
- Producers: Cecilia Atán, Valeria Pivato, Alejandra García, Edgard Tenembaum
- Cast:
- Paulina García as Teresa
- Claudio Rissi as el Gringo
Documented reviews / viewer responses
The Desert Bride has was received positively by the critics and has an IMDb rating of 6.4/10.
As per the general consensus the film is touching, tender and excels with the themes of character depth of the protagonist.
Thiemi discussions
The Desert Bride is an internally great movie being directed beautifully in tone from beginning to end as it shows sight of a woman fostering savagery within herself. Paulina García, who played the role of Teresa, manages to evolve with the character as she makes the inner conflicts of this woman and her unflinching resolve express softly with poise. The gradual pacing of the film fits well with the headspace of its protagonist, allowing the audience to not just watch but actually feel the process of her change. Teresa’s gentleness and El Gringo’s smirk couple perfectly, as if to blossom hope and humanity into her very own narrative.
Cultural Importance
Focusing on the issues of the older woman in Latin America who remains practically unheard of in popular discourses. These works depict the desert not only as a geographical location, but also as something that lies embarrassed on the demure emotions of Teresa — empty, yet pregnant with chances. Portraying ideas of exile, self-sufficiency as well as unforeseen intimacy, The Desert Bride is relatable to many people all over the world, making it an engaging cross cultural experience of the process of change and the timidity that comes with confronting unfamiliarity.
If you want to understand better the sentiments depicted in the film, see the official trailer a posted here: