Best remembered as the Almodovar diva of films such as Dark Habits (1983), Law of Desire (1987) and Volver (2006), Carmen Maura remains a force of nature at the age of 79. She plays the strong and determined Maria Angela, a Spanish woman who was born and has lived her entire life in Tangier. A title card in the beginning of the story explains to viewers that the city of Northern Morocco has a very intimate connection to Spain, having once belonged to the Iberian nation. Perhaps more significantly, it welcome those political exiles fleeing Franco’s oppressive regime. That’s presumably how Maria’s forebears reached the Maghreb nation.
Maria leads a happy life. She mingles well with her Arab neighbours, in a cosy community where everyone seems to welcome Spaniards, and to speak the language of Cervantes. Her flat is beautifully decorated with old furniture, overlooking a bustling commercial street (the titular Calle Malaga). Her daughter Clara moved to Spain with Maria’s grandchildren a long time ago, and she barely visits her mum. She suddenly travels to Morocco in order to sort to deliver some devastating news: she has decided to sell her mother’s residence, which her father left under her name for legal reasons. Maria is left speechless. She refuses to budge. She cannot believe that her only child would be capable of evicting her, and she is convinced that her late husband would be outraged.
In order to accelerate the sale, Clara empties the apartment and sells Maria’s much cherished furniture – including a gorgeous chandelier and an old-fashioned record player – to the local antique dealer. She gives her mother two options: move to Madrid with her, or to an old age home for Spanish people in Tangier. She grudgingly picks the latter, under the promise that she will enjoy freedom, entertainment and even beauty procedures in her new abode. To her disappointment, her room is bleak and soulless, and the professionals intended to lift her mood instead intrude on her privacy. So she comes up with a cunning plan in order to retrieve the flat that has been put up for sale, this embarking on a very peculiar adventure. Maria experiences a coming-of-age at old age. She allows herself to make life-changing decisions, to connect with new friends, to make money, and even to explore her sexuality (a familiar quest to those who watched Gabriel Mascaro’s The Blue Trail, the runner-up at this year’s Berlinale. Maura and her large, pearly eyes convey a vast array of emotions, from gentle warmth and silent indignation to unfiltered anger and explosive passion.
What started out a harrowing drama and meaningful meditation on the relationship between the elderly and their adult children gradually morphs into a far more lighthearted movie with overt comedic elements. This might come as a surprise to those who watched Touzani’s previous film: the heart-wrenching and consistently stern The Blue Caftan (2022). The 44-year-old Moroccan filmmaker has demonstrated that both her directorial skills and her writing abilities are very broad. She penned the script with Nabil Ayouch, the same pair of hands that aided her on The Blue Caftan, and also on her acclaimed 2019 debut fiction feature Adam.
Some hilarious moments include Maria’s refusal to have her hair cut {she tells the invasive hairdressers: “if you are too bored, why don’t you cut your pussy’s hair?”), her escape from the old age home, and her one-way conversations with her sister Josefa, a devoted nun who took a vow of silence and is able to communicate very intense emotions with her face and her hands. Maria’s description of her recent sexual encounters triggers some very extreme reactions from the religious woman. The comedic moments are so effective that – as it approaches its final resolution – Calle Malaga fails to return to the more serious and solemn tone that it set in the beginning. The mother-daughter face-off at the end of the film is not as impactful as the one on the beginning. That’s perhaps this dirty gem’s only significant shortcoming.
Virginie Surdej’s rich cinematography delivers the right amount of detail required in order to illustrate a resolute woman’s grasp on her possessions. Every detail of Maria residence is beautifully filmed, from frilled bedsheets to the colourful plates. The street images of Tangier also help to infuse the story with humanity and joie-de-vivre. Surdej too is also an old collaborator, having worked in Touzani’s previous fiction feature films.
Calle Malaga premiered in the Spotlight section of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, when this piece was originally written. The UK premiere takes place at the BFI London Film Festival.
