France (2010)
Mariana doesn’t like her name and starts calling herself Gloria. Her parents split up before she was one year old and today, like many separated couples, they are brought back together under the same roof only because they don’t have a decent job. Cristina, her mother, rents a part of the house to her ex-husband for a bit of extra money. “Francia” talks about those people who will never travel far from their home, where they take refuge, for good or bad, from all disgusting things in the outside world. Meanwhile, Mariana puts on her headphones when she hears her parents fighting. Those fights which now serve as a relief to the helpless.
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This drama goes beyond director Adrián Caetano's typical story telling and is focused on little girl Mariana struggling with her school and her parent's intention to live together again after many years of separation. When living conditions don't go the way this family has planned, Mariana tries to escape reality by inventing her alter ego. This, however, does not meet support neither from her parents nor her schoolteachers. Uruguayan actress Natalia Oreiro delivers exceptional performance in her dramatic portrayal of Cristina, mother who turns to alcohol when facing troubles. Her realistic performance is thrilling and proves her versatile acting ability. Caetano manages to tell the story in unusual way where dreams are mixed with reality and it is only up to the viewer to distinguish one from another.