There is in the leap to fiction Léa Todorov two movies in one that harmonize despite being totally different: on the one hand, the elegant and sober biopic of a woman ahead of her time, Maria Montessori (Jasmine Trinca), who, as so often happens with this insipid genre, could be criticized for an excess of classicism and a level of formal audacity inversely proportional to that of the object portrayed, that woman who made her way into patriarchy, no matter how much Jasmine Trinca and Leïla Bekthi (in a role curiously opposite to that of Dear strangerwhich also premieres this month) shine on the screen.
And yet, once this first impression was overcome, we discovered in Montessori a sensitive, intelligent and inclusive artifact, closer to a documentary that Nicolas Philibert could have directed, especially when children with special needs come into play, whether motor or cognitive. The film aims to educate our gaze, that gaze that turns away, instinctively, because it encompasses an uncomfortable, sad and painful reality, that one does not want to see, and it really achieves it, touching very different keys from those of the phenomenal Campeonexwithout humor, or sentimentality, coming to move us sincerely and intelligently, as if something had really changed in us.
DATA SHEET
‘Maria Montessori’
Director:
Léa Todorov
Gender:
Drama
Country:
France
Synopsis:
In 1900, Lili d’Alency has a disabled daughter whom she keeps hidden to protect her career and reputation. But when he is forced to take care of her, he decides to change his life by going to Rome. There she meets María Montessori, a doctor who works on a new educational method for so-called “deficient children.”
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Script: Léa Todorov, Catherine Paillé
Distribution: Jasmine Trinca, Leïla Bekhti, Pietro Ragusa, Emily Di Ronza
Duration: 100 min.
Verdict: A sincere, intelligent and brave celebration of diversity.
Distributor: Karma Films
Premiere: 1/5/202
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