PAULINA

Paulina, 28, abandons her career as a Buenos Aires lawyer to become a schoolteacher in an impoverished Argentinean village. One night, though, the pervasive hostility of the place erupts into violence: the young woman is attacked and raped by a gang of youths. Dealing with the aftermath of the trauma, all too aware that some of her attackers could be her students, Paulina nonetheless resolves to pursue her social ideals to their limit. A contemporary remake of Daniel Tinayre’s 1960 film La Patota, Paulina (whose original title made reference to the region where the deed took place) transforms its heroine’s political and social consciousness into a real-life via dolorosa, each step marked by self-sacrifice and suffering. Reminiscent of both Laurent Cantet’s The Class in its rendering of teacher/student clashes and Rosselini’s Europe 51 for its parallels with the saintly role played by Ingrid Bergman, this feature film by Santigo Mitre places more emphasis on faith, surrender and passion than on its leading lady’s martyr tendencies. Despite her baffling actions and controversial choices, Paulina, a perplexing figure of strong convictions, is a compelling character who leaves no viewer indifferent.