A well-dressed but poor grandmother, raising her grandson alone, learns of his involvement in a terrible crime and this film follows her as she enrolls in a poetry class, carries on her part-time job as a nurse/housemaid, tries to deal with incipient Alzheimer's and the emotional repercussions of this crime.
Very powerful film easily carried by the lead actress. She managed to convey fragility and strength, confusion and understanding, deference and resolve in a tour de force performance. I don't know what else she has done but this was the performance of a lifetime.
The only quibble I had was the composition and staging of the climactic poem. It didn't have the force it should have had based on the stellar two-hour build-up and reading it as a voiceover while cutting among various scenes was distracting and diluted all that had gone before.
Still, this was a marvelous film and well deserves the international praise it has received.
8
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