The Movie Teller (Spanish: La contadora de películas, Lone Sherfig, 2023) Chilean-Spanish-French

Reviewed by Lauren Howard.  Viewed at Metro 4 Theatres, Santa Barbara, CA

Danish director, Loni Sherfig along with screenplay writers Walter Salles, Rafa Russo, and Isabel Coixet bring the novel by Hernan Rivera Rivera Letelier to life. The Movie Teller is the story of a family living in a mining village in Chile.  The film tells the story of a father who works in the mines, a mother who stays at home and takes care of her family, and the four children who go to school and learn about the minerals that their father mines.  This is their life.  So, it is no wonder that the cinema becomes this family’s and the entire villages’ favorite pastime to the point of being their devout religion.   

The Chilean mining town is a desolate place. The bus to the coast or death seems to be the only way out. All the dialog is in Spanish with English subtitles. There are two cast members for each child in the family…the young children and the young adults. This family grows up as movie lovers in one scene before our eyes. The filmmakers do an exquisite job of transitioning using interesting montages round the dinner table.  This is a singularly great scene.   

The family suffers an extra hardship, and they can no longer afford to go together to the movies.  Only one family member can go.  From the time when they are children until the main character, played by Sara Beker, the only girl, becomes the movie teller their lives are magical.

Sara Becker’s portrayal of Maria Margarita has a delightful enduring goodness about her. She is a talented actor, and she captures the character’s talent for storytelling and the subtlety of her goodness.  Maria may not be perfect, but she is always steady and good.  

The cinematography for the film was mostly long shots. The aerial views of the town and mine visually tell a lot about the desolation of the place. The industrial conglomerate that runs the mine is managed by the German Houser, played by Daniel Bruhl (Rush, Captain America, Civil War). There is a strong socio-economic message in the movie. This town is where the families grow up, but is this way of life sustainable?  

There is a color palette that is strong in the film for the costumes. The soft blue fabric and accessories that Maria wears a lot soften the harshness of the surroundings most of the time. The goodness of Maria transcends all her hardships. She is a heroic figure in the story, and I like that she is always generally happy.  

The family struggles in this film are a lot harsher than those in some of the other films I have seen. The cultural confines and wedding traditions in Seven Blessings or the manageable medical, legal, and psychological problems in Ezra or Madu are a drop in the bucket compared to the economic and governmental problems faced by the family in The Movie Teller. Opportunity and hope for the future are certainly possible on the coast. Hopefully.