Screened as part of NZIFF 2008

Mataharis 2007

Directed by Icíar Bollaín

The notion of the female spy as glamorous femme fatale is given a reality check in this intriguing and refreshing film. "With a sharp eye for a good story... an excellent exploration of the emotional intelligence of women." — Hollywood Reporter

Spain In Spanish with English subtitles
95 minutes 35mm

Director

Screenplay

Icíar Bollaín
,
Tatiana Rodríguez

Photography

Kiko de la Rica

Editor

Ángel Hernández Zoido

Music

Lucio Godoy

With

Najwa Nimri
,
Tristán Ulloa
,
María Vázquez
,
Diego Martín
,
Nuria González
,
Antonio de la Torre

Festivals

San Sebastián, London 2007, San Francisco 2008

Elsewhere

The notion of the female spy as glamorous femme fatale is given a reality check in this intriguing and refreshing movie from Spain. "The Spanish filmmaker (and actress) Icíar Bollaín captures a world in which women are doing the looking: the movie follows three private detectives in Madrid employed by the same agency, who, in the course of doing their jobs, discover more about their own lives than those of the people who have engaged their services... The 'spies' of Mataharis aren't seductresses - at least, not obviously so. But each is beautiful and alluring in a way that's strongly individual... As we watch these women watching the men around them, their absorption in the act of looking is so visceral, we can practically hear their pulses... Mataharis explores the consequences of really seeing, and the necessity of believing what you're seeing - as opposed to seeing only what you want to believe." — Stephanie Zacharek, FIPRESCI