Parfum de violettes

"Perfume de violetas" is, by far, one of the best and most underrated Mexican films in years. The story is shocking and touching, the direction by Sistatch is marvelous and the acting is superb (just watch the two girls, they're wonderful). No more words. Just see this film. Four stars out of four.

Yessica is a troubled teenage tomboy who moves schools again after being expelled for hitting her teacher. She lives in poor conditions with her brother Jorge, mother and two other very young siblings and she befriends the sweetly naïve Miriam who appears to Yessica to be living in luxury with her mother. The two become very good friends and spend a lot of time together. One day Jorge agrees to set up Yessica to be raped by one of his friends in exchange for money and afterwards threatens Miriam to keep quiet about it. Yessica's increasing reliance on Miriam puts pressure on their relationship.

What starts as a comment on the problem of sexual abuse in Mexico's cities turns into more of a specific dramatic story that is good for the most part but gets weaker as it goes. For the most part the film looks at the friendship between Yessica and Miriam and how both it and Yessica herself are changed when she is repeatedly raped by her brother's friend. For the vast majority of the film this is very involving and seems very real and rather moving; this changes a little near the end where events go further than they really should in the aim of bringing the film to a dramatic close, but it's point is still made. It is not really easy to get into mainly because Yessica is never once made an easy character to feel for – she is troubled, unpleasant and difficult and the film rightly challenges us that these characteristics may not be there, they may have been caused and we are wrong to judge her or label her. The plot maybe lacks enough going on to fill out the time and parts of the second half feel like they drag a little bit, but this is a minor problem and it is hard to lose interest due to the nature of the story.

The characters are pretty well drawn despite being a little bit basic outside of the lead two. Both Yessica and Miriam change over the duration of the film. Yessica is the most convincing but Miriam's is harder to understand despite also being engaging and interesting. It is fortunate that both characters are very well acted. Ayala takes the hardest role and manages to make it work well; she wins the audience's sympathy but not by just becoming pathetic or needy. Gutiérrez is sweeter and a more sympathetic character and manages to be realistic even when the plot turns and makes her character more difficult to follow along with. The rest of the cast are good with their smaller roles and I didn't think there were any bad performances in the piece.

Overall this is a difficult film but one that is worth seeing. The plot deals with an important issue and manages to do it well despite overextending itself towards the end. The performances are natural and really drive the film. It is far from perfect and it is lacking in several areas but it is involving and important enough to be worth a watch at least once.

I think "Perfume de Violetas" is a crude reality of what happens in the life of many young girls, not only in Mexico City, but in many big cities among Latin America. This type of films are very under estimated in today's film industry. I think that like in many other occasion is a form of showing the authorities what the society is afraid to demand. I'm proud as a Mexican of what the Mexican writers and film makers are doing now, by far the best work that new generations had seen lately. I wonder why sponsors don't support films that doesn't show pretty, well known artist or doesn't have nudity scenes. I hope I didn't waste this space that could be for somebody else's opinion..

The main character, Yessica, is a tomboy who is often in trouble. As a result, she is transferred to a new school, where she meets Miriam, who lives with her mother in what seems to Yessica like luxury. While Miriam's mother's main concern is saving enough money to get a better television, Yessica doesn't even have a bedroom to sleep in or money for the most basic school supplies. When Yessica's step-brother arranges for her to be raped, things go from bad to worse. In her environment she doesn't feel like there is anyone she can tell, so she must suffer silently, which reminded me of how the women in "Missing Young Woman" were often not missed.

This film, which was Mexico's nomination for best foreign language film of 2001, is difficult to watch, but it's worth the effort. My notes also indicate that I liked the soundtrack. Seen at Cinequest (the San Jose, CA film festival) on 2/27/2002.

It was shocking to see how nobody is able or willing to help in a critical abuse situation. The main character is abused by family, teachers and classmates in different ways, being ignorance the origin of this kind of abuse. When this girl suffers a sexual attack, things just get worse. The only reason she has to smile is friendship, which she finally destroys because of her distorted values and social skills.