''The Fish Child'' () is a 2009 Argentine drama film directed by

Lucía Puenzo Lucía Puenzo (born 28 November 1976, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine author, screenwriter and film director. She is the daughter of the Oscar-winning film director, producer, and screenplay writer, Luis Puenzo. Early life Puenzo studied literat ...

. The film is a loose adaptation of Puenzo's first novel of the same name. The film premiered in the Panorama section at the

59th Berlin International Film Festival The 59th Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 February to 15 February 2009. The opening film of the festival was Tom Tykwer’s '' The International'', screened out of competition. Costa-Gavras's '' Eden Is West'' served as the clos ...

Plot

Lala (

Inés Efron Inés Efron (born May 9, 1984 in Mexico City) is an Argentine actress. Career Before ''XXY'', Inés Efron starred in ''Glue (film), Glue'', a drama about three teenagers set in a small town in a remote town in Argentina. In her ''XXY (film), X ...

) a girl from an affluent Argentinian family and daughter of a successful judge, is in love with Ailin ( Mariela Vitale) who has worked as a maid for her family since she was 13. The two lovers are desperate to be together and hatch a plan to run away to Ailin's hometown of Lake Ypoa

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. Lala steals paintings and other items from even at times her own family in order to finance their escape. As the movie continues, showing scenes in non-chronological order, mysteries of Ailin's past life, including her connection to the story tale called the Fish Child, are revealed. The two lovers find themselves in the face of crime, and against odds and hardships on their journey of escape into embracing their true love. Ailin, the maid, has had a hard life, much different from that of Lala's. Her father

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

d her and flashbacks suggest she had his child. She then left Paraguay and moved to Argentina to get away. When she moved she was just a child and she her skin is darker than everyone else which makes her stand out. She also speaks a different language. When she works for Lala and her family, Lala's father tries to make her a part of the family. Lala's family also has sex with her which understandably causes a lot of anger with Lala.

Reception

''The Fish Child'' received mixed reviews. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

it has a score of 83%. The film is described as an "upstairs-downstairs, lesbian love on-the-run thriller" by critics on Screendaily. Overall, this film is known for highlighting love, bringing attention to abuse, and demonstrating complex relationships. This film also highlights colorism because the maid Ailin experiences prejudice that Lala does not throughout the film.

Cast

- Lala * Mariela Vitale - Ailín "La Guayi" *

Arnaldo André Arnaldo André (born November 12, 1943) is a Paraguayan actor for soap-operas. He spent most of his career in Argentina, where he has been active since 1964. He earned a Martín Fierro award in 2010, and his most recent work was in the ''Los ún ...

- Sócrates, Father of Ailín * Ailín Salas - "La Guayi niňa" * Pep Munné - El juez Bronté, Father of Lala *

Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptised 6 June 15996 August 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the Noble court, court of King Philip IV of Spain, Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He i ...

- el Vasco *

Carlos Bardem Carlos Encinas Bardem (born 7 March 1963) is a Spanish actor and writer. He is often cast in "tough guy" roles, if not outright villains. In addition to his native Spain, he was worked in film and television in Latin America and the United State ...

- Comisario Pulido * Julián Doregger - Nacho, Brother of Lala

References

External links

* 2009 films 2009 drama films Lesbian-related films Guaraní-language films 2000s LGBTQ-related drama films Argentine drama films 2009 LGBTQ-related films 2000s Argentine films Argentine LGBTQ-related films {{LGBT-drama-film-stub

Plot

Reception

Cast

See also

References

External links