Chronicles of a Wandering Saint is a Spanish-language supernatural comedy-drama from Argentina. It marks Tomás Gómez Bustillo's directorial debut. Layered with magical realism and offbeat meta-humour, the film follows spiritual yet ambitious middle-aged woman Rita Lopez (Mónica Villa) who attempts to fake a miracle only to get her own taste of divine intervention.
A sweet and quirky look at aging and religion. As we follow the day-to-day monotony of Rita Lopez in her unremarkable Argentine village, the fear of god and a perpetual fear of the afterlife are omnipresent. Rita seems to be well-liked among her peers but she’s driven to seek some extra validation from the townsfolk and the clergy, albeit with a staged miracle. Her husband Norberto (Horacio Marassi) is always by her side despite her frowns of displeasure that prop up whenever he tries to woo her with his childish charm. Over half an hour into the film, Rita goes through a life-changing incident that gives her a taste of the afterlife. One can expect a moral story of Rita learning to loosen up and accept her earnest husband while realising miracles can’t be created, miracles are the loved ones around us (you get the gist). Expect the unexpected.
A magical trip sprinkled with Marquez-esque magical realism. Almost like Dante from The Divine Comedy, Rita crosses paths with angels and demons. In fact, the angel even tries to sell her a “premium” package to get to heaven, complete with an Alexa-like device echoing the word “premium” in a sultry voice. That’s the kind of deadpan humor that director-writer Tomás Gómez Bustillo achieves in this delightful fantasy. Instead of building any fancy sets or overusing CGI for Rita’s psychedelic experiences, Bustillo makes efficient use of rural Argentina with colors and landscapes of Rita’s daily routine. The visuals almost play out with a childlike fascination with nature, a dreamscape where even inanimate objects and buzzing insects have a voice. It won’t be a stretch to compare the comedy with the magical realism-heavy literature of Latin American greats like Gabriel Garcia Marquez. If you do read and appreciate authors like Marquez, Bustillo’s film will make for the perfect companion watch.
A debutant director shines with an acting veteran. For a director who is agnostic in real life, it’s ironic for Bustillo to helm an ordinary woman’s extraordinary spiritual journey. By no means is the first-time director trying to preach any moral science. Instead, he celebrates the little things in life with some newfound perspectives that anyone can have after a watershed moment in their life (regardless of a divine cause or not). And this sense of universal relatability is brought to life by Mónica Villa, a heavily revered name in Argentine cinema. More mainstream viewers will remember her from the Oscar-nominated Wild Tales and with her lead role in Chronicles of a Wandering Saint, she deserves more global recognition. She’s naïve. She’s funny. She’s grumpy. She is, in the end, divine as a saint.
Chronicles of a Wandering Saint is a feel-good exploration of daily life, divine miracles, and everything in between.
