Nun of Your Business: Delpero Explores Mothers and Others in Astute Debut
For her feature film debut, documentarian Maura Delpero observed young women in Buenos Aires being cared for by nuns in an Italian religious center for a period of four years, resulting in Maternal. The Spanish language title, Hogar, translates as ‘home,’ although somewhere between these two simple suggestions lies the basis for a narrative which concerns unwed Argentinean teen mothers living alongside Italian nuns in a convent within a film that’s less The Magdalene Sisters (2002) and more Losing Isaiah (1995) in its juxtaposition of cultural, socioeconomic and racial divides marking an argument for nature vs. nurture and the preference for stability in inherent maternal instincts. Delpero presents a quiet, studied examination of female relationships and alliances, and though she steers clear of drastic melodrama, it’s an effective portrait of survival and resiliency of young women with few options and little agency.
Seventeen-year-olds Lu (Augustina Malale) and Fatima (Denise Carrizo) have been friends since childhood and are now mothers living in a convent in Buenos Aires. Lu passes her toddler Nina (Isabella Cilia) off on Lu, who is nine months pregnant with her second child, while she engages in irresponsible behaviors marking her as a problem amongst the nuns and their peers. The novitiate Sister Paola (Lidiya Liberman) arrives from Italy, and immediately makes a connection with Nina (“she doesn’t look like a nun,” the child observes). Paola’s presence also disrupts the co-dependent relationship of Lu and Fatima, which eventually leads Lu to disappear one night. While it’s explained to Nina that her mother has taken work elsewhere, the child grows attached to Paola. When Lu unexpectedly returns, beat up and bruised, she’s told she can no longer reside in their ‘hogar’ and the young woman insists on taking her child along with her.
Maternal plays out as a triptych, with Lu and Fatima’s friendship tested by the appearance of Sister Paola. Little is divulged of their pasts, though their current actions belie the presumed traumas each has survived in order to end up where they are. As the film’s wild child, Lu is clearly the most frustrating as an irresponsible mother foists Nina off on Fatima to look after while she gallivants at night, returning to whisper of her public sexual exchanges with a new love interest, a man whose intentions are eventually self-serving and abusive. Their comfort is immediately threatened by Paola, who takes an interest in Nina, assuming a caretaker role the child seems to yearn for, which the other nuns seem to approve of. Fatima also seems taken with Paola’s placidity, which heightens her criticism of Lu, the latter eventually abandoning her child to explore her new relationship. It’s here were Maternal switches into a stealthier, subtler mode of character examination.
Paola’s actions would seem to indicate her immediate connection to Nina fulfills a void she may have escaped from herself, engaging in a predictable move in the third act which plays out a bit like Sherrybaby (2006). Delpero steers clear of easy answers—Nina is likely to flourish under the stability offered by Paola, but Lu is, despite her actions, somewhat committed to doing the right thing, though it’s ultimately Fatima who makes an important decision for herself.
The nuns are less social workers than merely the protectors of a safe zone. A language barrier doesn’t help matters, as they’re unable to intervene in a timely manner when situations become heated between Lu and some of the other young women—door slamming and table slapping seem to be the easiest ways the elders can communicate their will. Absent any males, save Fatima’s child, Maternal is a quiet, discreet film of muted colors and tones. Delpero depicts this as an environment where the real struggle is an internal one women have with themselves, exemplifying the consequences of actions. Snippets of colorful moments are usually grounds for outbursts, such as a dance held at the convent for the girls (with the children safely belted into chairs on the periphery of the dance floor). Ultimately, there is no one here to prevent anyone from doing the wrong thing, and as the finale highlights, Paola, Lu and Fatima have to make up their own minds.
Reviewed on August 12 at the 2019 Locarno Film Festival – International Competition. 91 Mins.
Los Angeles based Nicholas Bell is IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic and covers film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and TIFF. He is part of the critic groups on Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and GALECA. His top 3 for 2021: France (Bruno Dumont), Passing (Rebecca Hall) and Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro). He was a jury member at the 2019 Cleveland International Film Festival.
