El Proyecto de

Maria Llena Eres de Gracia

Sophie OConnell
 Contents
1. A summary of the film in English
2. A list and photos of the main
characters
3. 10 Spanish sentences Summarising
the plot
4. Personal reflection of the film

Sophie OConnell
 Summary
Maria Full of Grace follows the story of a young Columbian girl who quits her job and
becomes a drug mule

Maria lives in a small village, in a small house with her grandmother, her mother, her
sister and her Nephew. She works in a flower factory but feels like she is being treated
poorly so she quits her job. Unfortunately she finds out shes pregnant and needs to
find a way to make money

Her mother tells her to go to the city and find work there. While she is waiting for the
bus, she meets Franklin who offers her a job as a drug mule. She accepts and follows
him to meet his boss Javier. Javier interviews her and sends her off to New York.

Her friend Blanca decides to join her and the two of them head off to New York along
experienced drug mule Lucy, who wants to visit her sister when she gets to New York.

When they arrive, Maria is interrogated by police, but luckily she is released when
they find no evidence of drugs.

When the three women arrive at the hotel, Lucy dies because one of the drug pellets
she swallowed bursts in her stomach.

In fear, Maria and Blanca flee with the drugs and seek refuge with Lucys sister Carla,
who is unaware of her sisters death. Carla brings them to a man called Don Pablo who
helps Colombians find jobs when they arrive in America. He notices the drugs and
tells them to return the drugs and go back home to Colombia.

They then call the emergency number that Javier gave them and return the drugs.
They also finally tell Carla about Lucy before they head back to Colombia, and Maria
gives some of the money she earned from the job to pay for Lucys funeral.

At the airport, Maria changes her mind and decides to stay in America to give her baby
the best chance at life.

Sophie OConnell
 Characters
Maria Blanca

Lucy Carla

Franklyn Javier

Don Pablo

Sophie OConnell
 Ten Sentences in Spanish
summarising the plot
1. La pelicula se trato de una chica jovena que se llama Maria.
2. Maria tiene diescisis aos y vive en un pequeno en el campo de
Colombia.
3. No le gusta su trabajo y est embarezada
4. Decid trabajar coma mula y va Nueva York con drogas en su cuerpo
5. Su amiga Lucy muro en Nueva York y Maria esta viviendo en el
apartamento de su hermana.
6. La hermana, Carla, no sabe le verdad
7. Maria regras a los narcos con las drogas para recibir su dinero
8. Carla aprend sobre la muerte de Lucy y esta muy enfadada con
Maria.
9. Maria paga para el funeral de Lucy
10. Maria quedarse en los Estados Unidos.

Sophie OConnell
 Personal Reflection
Maria full of Grace is a powerful and harrowing film about drug
smuggling, which for many people is not a film, but a reality.

Maria finally puts a face on all the stories we hear about drug smuggling.
Marias naivety is shown when she thinks this will be easy and all she has
to do is deliver the drugs. This is certainly not the case. Lucy is a prime
example of what happens when things go wrong. When Maria was caught,
we couldnt help but root for her and hope shell be ok. Catalina Sandino
Moreno, who plays Maria, does such a fantastic job at portraying
innocence and vulnerability that we feel pity for her.

However when we hear about people smuggling drugs we look in disgust

and think how stupid they are for doing it, and we never think about that
persons backstory. Were they forced to do it, did they need the money,
who knows?! After watching this film, it certainly made me think twice
about those who get caught.

After doing some research on the film, I was really impressed to learn that
Catalina was not a trained actress. Her ability to draw our attention to her
while shes on the screen is amazing, and she was even nominated for an
Oscar in 2005.

Overall I really enjoyed the film, and I would encourage anyone over the
age of fifteen to watch it, as it does deal with some mature themes such as
drugs and death.

Sophie OConnell
Sophie OConnell