The Holy Girl

Product Description The Holy Girl poignantly captures the lives of two teenage girls, Amalia, daughter to the owner of the hotel, and the girl's best friend Josefina, as they adjust to their growing sexuality and religious passion. After an encounter with the respected Dr. Jano, a physician attending the convention, Amalia confides in Josefina that she is going to deliver him from sin. After submitting to her wishes, Dr. Jano realizes that no matter how good the temptation, nothing is worth the evil it causes. Amazon.com Prepare to be carried away into the dreamlike world of The Holy Girl, Lucrecia Martel's sultry mood piece. In a dowdy hotel in Argentina, a small-scale morality play is unfolding: devout teenager Amalia (Maria Alche) determines to save the soul of the middle-aged man who inappropriately rubbed up against her in the street. He's a doctor (Carlos Belloso) visiting town for a conference, staying at the same hotel where Amalia lives with her mother (Mercedes Moran). It gets complicated when Amalia's mother makes the doctor's acquaintance and finds herself attracted to him--without knowing about his dark little secret. Martel, whose first feature was the remarkable La Cienaga, creates a world both spiritual and sensual for this story, aided by the central performance of Maria Alche, whose religious devotion is at war with her Lolita looks. The overall effect is like the hotel's pool room, a heady feeling of humid atmosphere but with a lucid argument at its core. This is a fascinating film. --Robert Horton