THE HEIRESSES

★★★★

OUT 10 AUGUST / CERT 12A / 98 MINS DIRECTOR Marcelo Martinessi CAST Ana Brun, Margarita Irún, Ana Ivanova, Alicia Guerra

ANA BRUN WON Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival for this captivating satire, an award which proves fully deserved. A masterclass of acting with the eyes, she plays Chela, a pampered fiftysomething who’s given a jolt when her longtime companion, Chiquita (Irún), is jailed for fraud, while covering for the pair’s overspending. Yet, while the focus falls on Chela’s growing infatuation with the sensual Angy (Ivanova), debut director Marcelo Martinessi deftly uses the story to comment on Paraguay’s class structure and tumultuous recent past. An irresistible blend of disarming intimacy and acerbic wit, this is a meticulous character study whose late-blossoming heroine hints at a wider sense of national renewal. DP