''Gloria'' is a 2013 Chilean-Spanish
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Sebastián Lelio
Sebastián Lelio Watt (born 8 March 1974) is a Chilean director, screenwriter, editor and producer. He received critical acclaim for directing the films ''Gloria'' (2013) and ''A Fantastic Woman'' (2017), the latter of which won an Academy Award ...
. The film premiered in competition at the
63rd Berlin International Film Festival
The 63rd annual Berlin International Film Festival took place in Berlin, Germany between 7 and 17 February 2013. Chinese film director Wong Kar-wai was announced as the President of the Jury and his film '' The Grandmaster'' was the opening film ...
,
where
Paulina García
Paulina García Alfonso (born 27 November 1960), better known as Pali García, is a Chilean actress, stage director, and playwright.
García debuted on television with a small role in the telenovela ''Los títeres'' (1984), but she was soon ...
won the
Silver Bear for Best Actress
The Silver Bear for Best Actress (german: Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin) was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chos ...
.
It was shown at the
2013 Toronto International Film Festival
The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. '' The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and '' Life of Crime'' was the closing film. 75 films were ...
.
The film was selected as the Chilean entry for the
Best Foreign Language Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the
86th Academy Awards
The 86th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2013 and took place on March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. ...
,
but it was not nominated. It won
Best Ibero-American Film at the
1st Platino Awards
The 1st Platino Awards were presented at the Teatro Anayasi in Panama City, Panama on April 5, 2014 to honour the best in Ibero-American films of 2013.
Nominations were announced on 13 March 2014. '' The German Doctor'' received the most nominati ...
. Sebastián Lelio remade ''Gloria'' in 2018 as ''
Gloria Bell
''Gloria Bell'' is a 2018 comedy-drama film written and directed by Sebastián Lelio; it is an English language remake of Lelio's 2013 film ''Gloria''. The film stars Julianne Moore, John Turturro, Michael Cera, Caren Pistorius, Brad Garrett, ...
'', starring
Julianne Moore
Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent films, a ...
and
John Turturro
John Michael Turturro (; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his contributions to the independent film movement. He has appeared in over sixty feature films and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers, ...
.
Plot
In
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
, Chile, 10 years after her divorce and with her children grown up, 58 year-old Gloria decides she does not want to spend her days alone. She starts going to singles discos, where she meets and immediately forms a relationship with Rodolfo, who operates an amusement park on the outskirts of the city. Seven years older than Gloria and recently divorced himself, Rodolfo remains incredibly close to his two grown-up daughters. Neither one has a job, and together with Rodolfo's ex-wife, rely on Rodolfo for full financial support. As a result, he never turns off his mobile phone, answering it immediately if his daughters call (regardless of where he is). He takes Gloria on a date to his amusement park where the two share a kiss.
After a successful lunch with Rodolfo and her friends, Gloria introduces Rodolfo to her family at a birthday dinner for her son. Among the other guests is her ex-husband, Gabriel. When Gloria's family ask Rodolfo about his career, he replies he was an officer in the
Chilean Navy
The Chilean Navy ( es, Armada de Chile) is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso.
History
Origins and the Wars ...
and struggles to keep up with the barrage of questions about his personal life. After some heavy drinking, Gloria becomes too friendly with Gabriel, much to Rodolfo's discomfort. He leaves the room to answer a call from his daughter and does not return to the party. Furious at this, Gloria breaks off their relationship the following day. Rodolfo meets Gloria at her office, defending his actions at the party and reprimanding Gloria for her behavior.
After many failed efforts, Rodolfo succeeds in getting Gloria to accompany him to a luxury hotel beside the sea at
Viña del Mar
Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a city and commune on central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located within the Valparaíso Region, and it is Chile's fourth largest city w ...
. Upon arriving at their room, one of Rodolfo's daughters calls to say that her mother has been in an accident and Rodolfo must come home right away. Gloria attempts to leave but Rodolfo stops her, saying he will not abandon their relationship. She strips and they have sex.
That night, they go down to the hotel dining room, where they make plans to go away on vacation as a couple. Rodolfo's phone continues to ring but he does not answer. Gloria asks to see his phone and then drops it into his soup. He retrieves his phone and excuses himself from the table, which Gloria assumes is to use the men's room. Rodolfo never returns. An upset Gloria heads for the bar and drinks heavily, leading to a wild night at the casino, then the disco, and through the city streets. She wakes up with a terrible hangover on the beach the next morning. When the hotel receptionist tells her that Rodolfo has checked out with her things and the room is no longer available, she calls her cleaning lady, Victoria, to come and fetch her. They return to Santiago by bus several hours later.
Back home, Rodolfo makes numerous attempts to call Gloria at her home without success. Gloria retrieves one of Rodolfo's paintball guns from her trash bin and puts it back in her car. She drives to his home and splatters the front of his house with green paintballs before shooting Rodolfo in the groin as he tries to enter the house while carrying groceries. His family runs out in horror and yells obscenities at Gloria, who returns to her car and speeds away. She heads to the wedding she had originally planned to attend, but arrives partway through the reception. Her friends express their gratitude and tell her to enjoy the party. Despite declining multiple invitations to dance, Gloria stands up when the DJ puts on her theme tune, ''
Gloria'' by
Umberto Tozzi
Umberto Antonio Tozzi (; born 4 March 1952) is an Italian pop and rock singer and composer. Over the course of his career, he has sold over 70 million records in different languages internationally, and his biggest international hits are:
"Stel ...
, and takes to the dance floor, allowing herself to get lost in the music.
Cast
*
Paulina García
Paulina García Alfonso (born 27 November 1960), better known as Pali García, is a Chilean actress, stage director, and playwright.
García debuted on television with a small role in the telenovela ''Los títeres'' (1984), but she was soon ...
as Gloria Cumplido
*
Sergio Hernández as Rodolfo Fernández
* Diego Fontecilla as Pedro
* Fabiola Zamora as Ana
*
Alejandro Goic as Daniel
*
Coca Guazzini
Silvia Beatriz Guazzini Monsalve (born December 22, 1953 in Santiago), best known as Coca Guazzini, is a Chilean television, theatre and film actress. Guazzini studied theatre at Universidad de Chile. She appeared in some popular Chilean telenov ...
as Luz
* Hugo Moraga as Hugo
*
Luz Jiménez
Luz Jiménez or Luciana (born Julia Jiménez González; 1897–1965) was an indigenous Mexican model and Nahuatl-language storyteller and linguistic informant from Milpa Alta, D.F.
As a young woman she witnessed the Mexican Revolution, and w ...
as Victoria
* Cristián Carvajal as Vecino
* Liliana García as Flavia
*
Antonia Santa María as María
* Eyal Meyer as Theo
* Marcial Tagle as Marcial
* Marcela Said as Marcela
*
Pablo Krögh as Pablo
Reception
The film received excellent reviews when it premiered at the
2013 Berlin International Film Festival, topping both ''
Screen International
''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company.
The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...
''s Screen jury poll of international critics, and
IndieWire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...
's critics poll of the best films screened at Berlin in 2013. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
the film has a "Certified Fresh" approval rating of 99% based on 128 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The site's consensus is "Marvelously directed by Sebastian Lelio and beautifully led by a powerful performance from Paulina Garcia, ''Gloria'' takes an honest, sweetly poignant look at a type of character that's all too often neglected in Hollywood." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film holds a score of 83 out of 100, based on reviews from 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
David Rooney of ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' writes "it’s hard to imagine anyone with a heart and a brain not responding to the quiet delights and stunning intimacy of Chilean director Sebastian Lelio’s account of the personal evolution of a 58-year-old divorcee, played with scrupulous honesty and intelligence by the wonderful Paulina Garcia" and "Funny, melancholy and ultimately uplifting, Sebastian Lelio's enormously satisfying spell inside the head and heart of a middle-aged woman never puts a foot wrong".
''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' writes "Perceptive and unerringly sympathetic, 'Gloria' has the makings of an arthouse sleeper".
Mark Adams of ''
Screen International
''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company.
The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...
'' writes "A delightfully astute and compassionate delve into the life of a 58 year-old divorcee looking for company, romance and perhaps even love, director Sebastián Lelio’s engaging, amusing and oddly uplifting ''Gloria'' is a film that will strike a chord with audiences of a certain age. It is driven by a quite wonderful performance from Paulina Garcia, who should snag best actress awards at every festival the film plays at."
Eric Kohn of
IndieWire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...
gave the film an A and describes it as a "breakthrough" for actress Paulina Garcia.
Awards
See also
*
*
*
Cinema of Chile
Chilean cinema refers to all films produced in Chile or made by Chileans. It had its origins at the start of the 20th century with the first Chilean film screening in 1902 and the first Chilean feature film appearing in 1910. The oldest survivin ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gloria
2013 films
2013 drama films
2010s Spanish-language films
Chilean drama films
Spanish drama films
Films directed by Sebastián Lelio
Roadside Attractions films
2010s Spanish films