Live-In Maid

Critics Consensus

Live-In Maid is an insightful character piece with standout performances and a poignant slice of Argentina life.

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Live-In Maid Photos

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Movie Info

Dora is the maid of Mrs. Beba and has worked and lived with her for 35 years. Beba used to be a well-to-do socialite but successive economic and personal crises have worn her out, reducing her to a purveyor of decadence. Nowadays she finds herself forced to sell door-to-door beauty products. Her thick gold earrings, and her maid, Dora, are the last bastions of a lifestyle of which she refuses to let go. Dora came at 17 from the Chaco province to work as a full time maid at Beba's apartment. Since then she has managed to start building a house in one of the shantytowns outside Buenos Aires. However, she is unable to complete the construction of her own house because Beba owes Dora six months of salary. Dora, tired of listening to Beba's promises of payment, is now determined to resign. Beba asks her for more time to get the money together. Dora accepts. During this period Beba tries to mine the confidence of Dora, discouraging her not to venture into a new phase of her life.

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Art House & International, Comedy, Drama
Directed By:

Jorge Gaggero
Written By:

Jorge Gaggero
In Theaters:

Jul 18, 2007 limited
On Disc/Streaming:

Dec 4, 2007
Runtime:

85 minutes
Studio:

Distribution Company

Cast

Norma Aleandro
as Beba

Norma Argentina
as Dora

Marcos Mundstock
as Victor

Marco Mundstock
as Victor

Raul Panguinao
as Miguel

Susana Lanteri
as Memé

Elsa Berenguer
as Sara

Claudia Lapacó
as Perla

Monica Gonzaga
as Irma

Eduardo Rodriguez
as Luisito

View All

News & Interviews for Live-In Maid

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Critic Reviews for Live-In Maid

All Critics (33) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (33)

Quote not available.

November 18, 2011 | Rating: 5/5

J. Robert Parks
Time Out
Top Critic
Quote not available.

November 17, 2011 | Rating: 4/5

Melissa Anderson
Time Out
Top Critic
Live-in Maid is a study of two women who appear not to like each other very much, yet their link makes for a moving drama about friendship.

October 19, 2007 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Bill Stamets
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic
[A] simply told, but emotionally robust movie.

October 19, 2007 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
Top Critic
It paints a lovely, intimate portrait of a complex relationship and shows a side of Latin American life we rarely see on American screens.

October 18, 2007 | Rating: 4.5/5 | Full Review…

Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic
A vivid portrait of a society in the midst of wrenching change, but it transcends its immediate context to become a thoughtful, even unforgettable, chamber piece, performed with exquisite subtlety by two fine actresses.

September 20, 2007 | Full Review…

Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
Top Critic
A small triumph the debut feature by Argentine filmmaker Jorge Gaggero depicts the effect of Argentina's economic meltdown on the relationship between a formerly wealthy businesswoman and her servant of 30 years.

August 27, 2019 | Full Review…

Amy Taubin
Film Comment Magazine
Incisive study of class relationships between a pauperized would-be aristocratic woman and the maid who is increasingly ready to break free.

December 14, 2007 | Full Review…

Louis Proyect
rec.arts.movies.reviews
From the rooms and spaces which house the two women to the slow unraveling of their history together, Live In Maid is a wonder of economic storytelling.

October 14, 2007 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…

Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews
As a character study it carries a quiet, almost serene dramatic power as well as a strong current of dark humor.

September 24, 2007 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…

Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion
If you care about the art of movie acting, run to the Charles to see Norma Aleandro bring tragicomic stature to the role of a haute bourgeois Buenos Aires woman fallen on hard times in Live-In Maid.

September 21, 2007 | Rating: B+

Michael Sragow
Baltimore Sun
Writer/director Jorge Gagggero has made a sensitive and lovely portrayal of two women.

September 15, 2007 | Full Review…

Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan

View All Critic Reviews (33)

Audience Reviews for Live-In Maid

Sep 29, 2011

Poignant and masterful, Live-In Maid is an involving unorthodox presentation of the averse relationship, more appropriately, friendship, of an imperious bourgeois and a taciturn domestic attendant. Emotionally complex and ambiguous, Live-In Maid is transcendental of social class, precisely aware of the situation and disposition of the bourgeoisie in the times of economic recession and profoundly acquainted with the vicissitudes and realities of life. Emphatic.

Jan Marc M Super Reviewer
Jun 25, 2009

A well crafted film study of declining social status and precarious friendships. Understated and subtle but brilliantly presented.

Randy T Super Reviewer
May 15, 2009

No matter if your rich or poor, you can always feel lonely and find friendship in the most strangest of relationships? at least thats what I got out of the movie.

Matthew M Super Reviewer
Jul 29, 2007

[font=Century Gothic]"Live-in Maid" is set around the financial crisis that crippled the Argentinian economy in 2001. Beba(Norma Aleandro) has not been able to pay her maid, Dora(Norma Argnentina), for the past several months. Beba is currently trying to sell cosmetics, as she desperately tries to hold onto her dignity and pride but they are fading fast. Dora has worked for Beba's family for the past 28 years but is getting frustrated at the lack of money since she would like her significant other, Miguel(Raul Panguinao), to pave the floor of his house.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Live-in Maid" is a low-key observation on the nature of class in society. Beba and Dora come from very different backgrounds but in the film they both have something in common - a lack of money. At first, I would say the two women share a symbiotic relationship but could they actually be friends?[/font]

Walter M Super Reviewer