Lina de Lima (Maria Paz Gonzalez, 2019): Chile, Peru, Argentina

Reviewed by Maria Zermeno. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2020.

Lina de Lima is a Latin American musical drama written and directed by Maria Paz Gonzalez and definitely a great film to see. This film is about a young woman named Lina, played by Magaly Solier, who travels to Chile from Peru to find work as a housekeeper. Lina has been in Chile for about ten years and has been making enough earnings to send to her mother and son back in her home country of Peru. Although Lina has made sufficient earnings to provide for herself and her loved ones, she struggles to connect with her adolescent son who has grown up without her presence. Since Lina struggles to connect with her loved ones in Peru due to distance, we often find her alone but not completely lonely as she proceeds to have several hook ups with different men throughout the film. She has also formed a strong bond with Clara, played by Emelia Ossandon, who happens to be the daughter of her boss and who she often raises. The film begins with Lina buying a soccer jersey for her son as a Christmas gift in attempts to make up for her absence. When the jersey turns out to be fake, Lina searches through several stores to find the right jersey to gift to her son. Lina plans to return to her home country of Peru for Christmas but she is found in a bit of trouble when her bosses newly built pool is ruined by an overflow of mud that leaked into it overnight. Lina’s living arrangements are also troubling her because she lives in a temporary apartment room that she soon discovers has been rented out to someone new. Now, she has no other option but to secretly live in her bosses empty home for a few days or until she returns to Peru. Lina is left broke, alone, and struggling to repair her bosses pool. However, she tries to find ways to make the best of what life has in store for her. Lina de Lima is an amazing musical drama because not only does it show the challenges of how Lina manages to survive living alone, but the musical scenes are certainly enjoyable and engaging. The musical numbers of the film were so beautifully directed and kept the audience so entertained with not only the vibrant visuals and dancing but Lina’s singing as well. My favorite musical scene was when Lina began to sing in the indigenous Peruvian language of Quechua. This film beautifully represents and explores some of the aspects of Lina’s Peruvian culture through music and dancing. Despite Lina de Lima being a great film, the ending will definitely leave you questioning several things because we find Lina in a different setting and the film ultimately ends in a cliffhanger. Nonetheless, this is a great film with such beautiful musical numbers and it’s essentially a great story about an independent woman exploring her womanhood and the struggles of life.