La Teta Asustada (2009)

Claudia Llosa's 2009 film La Teta Asustada (which in the movie is translated to "The Milk of Sorrow" but which literally means "The Frightened Breast") looks at the pain shared by women post-terrorism in Peru. The title comes from a condition that Quechuan women believe babies get when their mothers are pregnant or breastfeed while undergoing trauma.

I have to be honest, I loved absolutely everything about this movie. Magaly Solier's performance as Fausta, the young indigenous protagonist who has to deal with the legacy of her mother's rape, is quiet and provocatively curious. Her fear of men is subtle but has a tangible presence throughout the whole movie, as in one scene where Fausta, who goes nowhere without a family member escorting her, storms down the stairs built into the hill leading to her home, her escort having walked too slowly. She walks furiously until she sees a stranger, a man, casually coming their way up the stairs. Fausta is frozen, and looks back to her cousin for help. The annoyance in her cousin's expression quickly melts into compassion, and she catches up so the two can descend the stairs together. No dialogue is necessary for that entire dynamic to be conveyed.

The cinematography is equally quiet, but unique, and colorful. Llosa's style, as well as the work of cinematographer Natasha Brier (and I love that so many women were involved in the making of this movie!) incorporates a lot of wide, empty shots and allows for eye-catching moments. One moment that stood out to me was when Fausta and her employer, who is a fading composer, each come into frame from opposite sides, crawling on their hands and knees on the bathroom tile as they pick up the pearls from her employer's broken necklace. The pearls themselves come to symbolize not only Fausta's mission to earn enough to send her mother's body back to their home village (as she begins trading original songs for pearls, day by day) but they also represent the power dynamic itself between Fausta and her white, upper class employer.

It might seem like this movie would be weighed down, or made too serious due to the graveness of its subject matter, but it isn't. Fausta's story is unique, and captivating, and it's conveyed through beautiful, beautiful film. I...loved this movie. (And the Academy did enough to nominate it for best foreign film in 2009. So it's not just me.)