Sand Dollars
Directed by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas
Starring Geraldine Chaplin, Yanet Mojica, Ricardo Ariel Toribio, Ramón Cordero and Bernard Bizel
Every afternoon Noelí, a young Dominican woman, hangs out on the beach at Las Terrenas. With her boyfriend, Yeremi, they look for ways to make a living at the expense of one of the hundreds of tourists there. However Noelí also has a steady client, Anne, a much older French woman, who, like many other Europeans, has found an idyllic refuge on the island to spend her last years. For Noelí, the relationship is one of convenience, but the feelings become more intense as they plan to leave together for Paris.
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Reviews
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★★★½ review by Sam M. on Letterboxd
Lovely, tender, fluid three-way character study of an environment rarely portrayed on film. Chaplin deserves an Oscar, and would probably get a nom if there weren't literally thousands of great female performances this year. Ah well.
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★★★½ review by emanuelespies on Letterboxd
I was really happily surprise when I read that the story was based on a book and in the book it was an old man, not a woman.
How many times we have the pleasure to see a male character changed to a woman? And being a lesbian?!
Just because of that I put an extra star for this movie.
Another interesting fact is that in the book the point of view is European but in the movie is from the Dominican girl.
In some moments I felt missing information. It could be longer maybe, to give more details.
Or maybe I just had this feeling because is Noeli point of view. -
★★★★★ review by Osmar on Letterboxd
Desamor caribe en clave de bachata.
Tiene el mejor soundtrack del mundo.
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★★★½ review by Jordan Ford on Letterboxd
A parasitic relationship.
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★★★½ review by Keith Watson on Letterboxd
AFI Latin American Film Festival #1
I'm covering some of the films playing at AFI's Latin American Film Festival over the next few weeks for redcarpetcrash.com. Here, I take a look at Sand Dollars, the opening night film, which I really liked.
It's a quiet one and almost suspicious of the beauty of its setting. Maybe some would consider it a bit overly "festival-y" in style and tone, but I think it undercuts some of the expectations of festival films, and, anyway, I admired its unwillingness to simplify its characters and Chaplin's and Mojica's terrific performances.
Full review here.
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