I love foreign films. If you claim that you have watched everything, but do not watch films with subtitles, then your boredom is your fault. You are the reason that American remakes of perfectly good foreign films exist! I have a rule. I do not watch American remakes of foreign films because the original foreign film is usually better. So I do not see the American remake in theaters if I am aware of the existence of an original foreign film. I wait until the American remake is available for home viewing then watch the original foreign film and the American remake in one sitting to compare and contrast the films. I usually prefer the original, but occasionally an American remake takes the lead.
Sebastian Lelio took an interesting approach to this dilemma. If his name sounds familiar, it is because this Chilean director received and deserved worldwide critical acclaim for his sophomore film, A Fantastic Woman, which I loved. I was unaware that he began making films in America such as Disobedience, which I was not planning to see, but may because I love Rachel Weisz and discovering that he is the director is a point in its favor. The only reason that I know that he has begun making American films is because I love Julianne Moore so Gloria Bell attracted my attention. Lelio directed Gloria Bell, which is a remake of a film that he made in Chile called Gloria! Whhhhaaaaaat?!? I know! Such directorial undertakings rarely occur. We are in Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Haneke, Takashi Shimizu, George Sluizer of The Vanishing territory. Regardless of how I feel about either movie, I am impressed with Lelio for succeeding at making a movie in two countries and guarding his artistic integrity by making the remake. I still did not see Gloria Bell in theaters, and I am glad that I did not because then I may not have appreciated it as much as I did if I had.
This review is the first of two reviews about Gloria and Gloria Bell. Both films are about a single middle-aged woman with two adult children. She is trying to find her path to the next phase of her life when she ends up in a relationship with a man, and they both try to find the balance between building a relationship with each other without fully discarding the past relationships because at a certain age, everyone comes with some baggage. Gloria discovers what she wants from her life and ultimately finds her happy ending.
Plot twist: Gloria is one of the rare original foreign films that I did not subjectively prefer over the remake though I definitely think that there are aspects of it that are richer than the remake because it is set in Lelio’s homeland. The original can feel like a horror film if you suffer from secondhand embarrassment. Gloria is pitifully realistic, and it takes the viewer on a painful journey of the titular protagonist discovering and embracing her core of self-respect, but I found getting there excruciating. If I am being honest, as an eternally single woman, I would not brunch with Gloria. I understand that not everyone learns the same lessons at the same time, and I am old at heart, but I instinctually considered her pathetic because I would rather be alone than be with people who do not want to be around me. Also she was mean to the cat who clearly was the only one who wanted to be in her life, but she reacted to the cat like everyone reacted to her when she reached out to them so karma! Accept the cat. Accept yourself. Let the kitty love you!
I objectively loved Gloria because I am unfamiliar with the cast so I was able to accept the story as if they were ordinary people, not famous, glamorous actors playing a role. We were not getting Hollywood, airbrushed, perfectly expert lighting mature, but real life mature adults in all their awkwardness. Gloria’s socioeconomic and political backdrop made the story richer. I probably know more than the average American about Chile’s political history if only because when I was younger, I was deeply into Isabel Allende’s novels so I am aware that a democratically elected government was overthrown, and a military dictator took its place. This political undercurrent seems to haunt the superficial and light proceedings of this film: brunch, holidays, nightclubs. These mature adults are subconsciously stuck at the age of their collective trauma and never were able to fully develop until long after this collective trauma ended. So even though none of the characters explicitly discuss the personal effect that Pinochet’s regime had on their lives except as seemingly objective political banter, it could be the overarching explanation for the characters’ inability to fully connect and love each other. Is Gloria’s isolation systematic, not personal? Is her romantic relationship more than a personal journey and actually a metaphor for the country’s relationship with the political past? The protests and her daughter’s decision regarding where she wants her future to be are aspects that seem to be more resonant with the consequences of Pinochet than just incidental, organic decisions. I am an ignorant American however so if you are from Chile, please feel free to confirm or deny my unfounded theories.
Gloria also depicts universally relatable themes. Older women are often not treated with the same respect that a human being deserves. Universally people, regardless of her relationship with them, act as if she does not exist and allow interruptions with someone deemed more important to divert their attention. She does it too, but in a less offensive, more understandable context. Ever her grandkid does not seem to be a fan. I also liked that I did not like her, but I was still invested in her story.
Lelio’s biggest mistake in Gloria was to focus on the unsatisfying relationships instead of the stables ones that did exist and were present, but only depicted briefly throughout the movie. It makes her seem more hapless than she objectively is, and as if she made a deliberate choice to allow her life to revolve around the people that do not care about her. Her work life, if she has any, is completely invisible so was that an oversight or a decisive choice? Either way, it felt like a mistake to not at least explain in passing how that is possible. There are bedrock presences in her life that never change if you pay attention, but they are only shown in passing and the amount of time devoted to those people give the impression that they are not substantial, but they are. It is still kind of sad whom the protagonist chooses to call with her 3 AM problems. I need Lelio to put my mind at ease because if I misplace a pen, I can’t stop thinking about it-did she get her stuff back after that disastrous weekend? The pacing felt too deliberate.
For music fans, Gloria is played during the film, but NOT the Laura Branigan American version which I discovered is not the original, but the original Italian version by Umberto Tozzi and Giancarlo Bigazzi. Gloria was not for me though I think that it is required viewing if you decide that you want to see Gloria Bell, but it is only because I am not as invested in personal growth journeys that involve romantic relationships.