Writer/director Pablo Trapero crafts this tender tale of an incarcerated woman who gives birth to a baby boy and struggles to raise her son behind bars as she comes to the bleak realization that he is the only one who matters to her anymore. It all started when a pregnant Julia woke up in her apartment flanked by the bloodied bodies of her former lovers Nahuel and Romiro. Subsequently sent to a prison for mothers and pregnant convicts, Julia railed against the system by withdrawing into her own
world. Upon giving birth, Julia realizes just how difficult it could be to raise a son in prison, but each day her feelings for the boy swell stronger within her. Later, when Julia pays a visit to Romiro in the men's prison, it becomes obvious that the couple's feelings for one another are just as muddled as the events of that fateful night back in Julia's apartment. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Although it is not a comedy, Lion's Den is suffused with sense of life lived in the present. Even the grimmest moments are not exploited to instill fear and loathing.
Once the film devolves into a drag-down fight for custody with Julia's mother, only Gusman's nuance saves us from a script that seems geared more toward screeching overacting.
Frustratingly, the film tells us little about the crime itself and the denouement is a little unconvincing. The taste of sweat and fear is, however, real enough.
How do you raise a child in prison? Argentinian director Pablo Trapero tackles that question with affecting skill in this initially squalid yet ultimately uplifting social drama.
When it hits, the emotional intensity is ratcheted up, sometimes to overly showy levels, before ending relatively quietly with an escape attempt that, depending on one's view, is either gratifying or tragic.
The edgy, powerful performance of Martina Gusman (also director Pablo Trapero's wife and producer) as a pregnant woman accused of murder, elevates this Cannes Fest Argentinean entry above the trappings of the women behind bars genre.
Por mais que tenha admirado a performance de Sandra Corveloni em Linha de Passe, não sei como Gusman pode ter saído de Cannes sem o prêmio de atuação na bagagem.
Painfully realistic portrayal of one mother's struggle to raise her child in a penitentiary for women. Director Pablo Trapero doesn't pull any punches and Martina Gusman's performance is utterly fantastic.
April 28, 2009
Randy Tippy
Super Reviewer
With a scarcely believable ending, "Lion's Den" is a compelling yet episodic movie about Julia(Martina Gusman) who along with Ramiro(Rodrigo Santoro) has been charged with the murder of a mutual acquaintance. They both have different explanations accusing the other which is ironic since they have no memories of the
night in question in Julia's apartment. The following morning, she went out like nothing was wrong even when waking up with blood on her cheek but did not realize anything was wrong until she found a bruise on her neck. The movie specializes in subtle clues like that such as a little boy walking in a prison corridor before alerting the viewer to Julia being in a ward for mothers since she is pregnant. While this alone is an intriguing setting from which to examine the dynamics of prison life(sadly, Julia and her friend Marta(Laura Garcia) are the only detailed characters there), her pregnancy has another use as a measurement of how long she is behind bars without receiving a trial. At the same time, Julia undergoes a personal transformation brought on from being in prison and becoming a mother from rich party girl to somebody taking responsibility for her life.
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