A Camareira

Obviously not for those looking for an action flick, this is a stark and personal look at the daily life of Eve, a 24-year-old introverted maid at a luxurious Mexico City hotel. Impeccably portrayed by Gabriela Cartol, Eve must try and deal with the mundane aspects of her job, often being treated as invisible by the guests, inter-staff politics, and trying to find enough time to see and talk to her young son as the job permits.

Yet Eve does aspire for a better future by taking a GED class and working hard to be placed at the top of the list for a better assignment on the 42nd floor. You can see the strain on her face as she endures various disappointments, but also believing that she has little choice but to keep this job. However, as the stress mounts we begin to see her act in some quite unexpected ways.

To me, this movie, directed by Gabriela Cartol, was rather fascinating and I think its realism was genuine. So for those viewers that like a quiet and cerebral film, with realistic acting that really captures a part of human life, then you may find this one to your liking.

I genuinely felt bad for the maid in this film, but I feel even more bad for the fact that I wasted an hour and forty minutes watching an unfocused and unguided film that all could have been trimmed down to a twenty minute short film. The Chambermaid could basically be summed up like this: woman struggles in her job as a hotel maid, and while attempting to get her GED, she continuously suffers from people overlooking her and being an outcast in society. Yes, that sounds all fine and dandy, but again, these freaking indie films just love showing main characters walking around for what seems like hours.

The main character cleans. Then she walks down the hall. She stares at random objects. She cleans some blankets. She goes to GED classes. She speaks one sentence. Repeat. It gets extremely boring and repetitive.

I will say that I was enlightened with getting an insight into the struggles of what Mexican maids have to go through, especially in their struggle to rank up in their crummy job, but that does not make this film good. The main character was horribly developed and literally had no character, so how am I supposed to really care? I sympathize with maids, but I do not sympathize with her.

All in all, this was a boring film that really needs a trim of about an hour. Get rid of GED crap. Get rid of phone calls to home. Get rid of boring shots of her cleaning for half of the runtime, and just trim it to like a quarter. Maybe focus more on the people, like the young woman with the child, who gave a bit of attention to our main character.

Watch the movie if you like to watch people clean or if you like watching people walk around while looking sad.

The Chambermaid is a beautifully quiet look at a hotel housekeeper's daily existence. The film's narrative line is simple, yet the complexity of Gabriel Cartol's lead performance was stunning.

Anyone that has worked a menial or underappreciated job will appreciate the frustrating workplace dynamics where schmoozers who blow their own horn sometimes get ahead of quiet hardworking people.

In addition the film maker's symbolism of red and white shown in parallel construction was also striking.

I rather liked this film. Nothing happens in it that could be said to constitute a plot in the classical sense, but that is the point. The protagonist leads a desultory life, working only to survive and lacking any real means for freeing herself from the daily grind. Her relationships to her co-workers and the people whom she serves are temporary and devoid of any lasting significance. In some ways, her situation reflects that of many workers at every stratum of society. The difference is that she does not have very many options available and will probably continue to clean rooms until the day she dies.

Which is why I can see many English users saying they think the movie is flat. A very good movie.