Alba

I like Alba from the young director Ana Cristina Barragán very much. There is almost no dialogue, but still you know everything that you have to know when you look at Macarena Aria, who gives a stunning performance as Alba, a 11 year old child.

Given that Macarena Arias is playing a very shy character who is all about isolation and solitude, her performance is amazingly communicative. With her large and doleful eyes and her frail body that seems to want to avoid all human contact, she still manages to give a high variation of nuances thanks to director Barragán.

Alba needs a lot of love, but her sick and dying mother cannot give her that anymore and her father, whom she does not know very well after her parents had divorced, is a shy man who has had a lot of problems in his life (as a drugs addict) and whose house is in a very poor state.

Alba flees away in making her puzzles and her father helps her to make a painting out of her puzzles, a symbol of love.

This unsentimental and truthful drama moved me a lot. I would like to recommend this picture of Ecuador to everybody who likes beautiful movies.