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Peruvian director Claudia Llosa returns to the Berlinale film festival, after winning the golden bear 5 years ago for “Milk of Sorrow”. This time with international cast Jennifer Connelly (Oscar winner for “A beautiful Mind”), Mélanie Laurent (French actress, Shoshanna in “Inglorious Bastards) and Cillian Murphy (the Scarecrow in “the dark knight rises”). A co-production of Canada, France and Spain.

Story about mysticism meets responsibility. Jennifer Connelly plays Nana, a struggling mother that works in a farm somewhere in a freezing polar region in Canada. Mother of 2, Nena tells Ivan to take care of his younger brother Gully that is dying of a mental illness, doctors claim they can’t cure. Ivan has a hard time to accept his role of older brother and immerses into a world of his own with his love to Falcons, that he feels more acquainted with. After a healer arrives in the area, Nana discovers she posses healing powers. Together they build fragile tents from twigs to heal others. In a tragic accident Gully dies, and Ivan blames his mother for the loss. They don’t speak for years until a journalist is searching for Nana, and convinces Ivan to join her journey.

Connelly accepted the role after seeing “the milk of sorrow” which she considers “Breathtaking” and as soon as she read the script she knew she wanted to be involved,  “I thought the characters were so complicated and human and flowed in the most beautiful and refreshing way, then I sat down with Claudia and I completely fell in love with the script”

Claudia Llosa considers writing is a process, "I always compare writing as sculpting a rock, the material itself asks you were to go; you have to feel the nature and go with what you have in the hands. There is a point where the characters aren’t characters anymore, they become people and you respect their choices, and you try not to judge them because I am not interested in judging, not interested in their decision if they are correct or incorrect, I’m just interested in how complex, how human they are and I allow their process to be as natural and vivid as it can. The whole idea of art is so important in the film, but it’s not art itself what matters to me, for me art is just a channel, it’s a cable of electricity that doesn’t serve itself, it just channels the light. So it’s how important for humans to find a way of channeling our emotions, our life. In milk of sorrow it was singing in this case it’s healing”.

Mélanie Laurent talks about the power of healing: "...when I shot the movie I was 3 months pregnant and I don’t know if you can heel yourself, but I was absolutely never sick during the week and suddenly, during the weekend I was really sick. So I think we decide a lot of things and we don’t know how powerful the brain is. We have to work on a lot of things, and I am sure a lot in our minds can control the bodies.”

William Shimell who plays Newman, the healer adds “I had to think a lot about this because of the role I was playing, the western medicine puts everything in little boxes and gives you a pill to take, where perhaps the power of the mind is underestimated. How we reach for that power, I have no idea. Certainly a woman with a sick child will do anything she can to help it, to cure it. I think there is power that western medicine can certainly not release; perhaps there is another way.”

The film encounters inexplanable flashbacks, which propels the viewer’s attention and perception. The story approaches the family institution in Canada and the human power of cure.

L. Fietz