Another mother’s story

Acting as a mother on screen is not something new for her. Penelope Cruz has done seven movies with famous Spanish director Pedro Almodobar. In five of which she played the role of mother.

This time his movie ‘Limencita’ is competing in the competition section of the Venice Film Festival. Where she is the mother of two children. But it is very different from the mother’s character done earlier. Director Emmanuelle Criales has highlighted various issues in the film. One of which is domestic violence against women.

Oscar-winning Spanish actress Penelope Cruz spoke about the issue in a press conference at the Venice Film Festival on September 4. He said, “I played the role of an abused woman in the film. A character that many women can relate to. All over the world women live in a kind of family trap. Whatever happens against them, they accept everything in front of the child. Due to her abusive husband, she fights physically and mentally day after day and thinks that there is no place for her to escape in the world.’

Set in 1970s Italy, the film has another side. That is, Penelope’s 12-year-old daughter Adriana in the film rejects her name and gender identity and wants to become a man. A conflict is created with this. Which is actually director Creales’ own story.

At this year’s Venice festival, the director said for the first time that he has transformed from a woman to a man. All in all, it can be said that ‘Limencita’ is his autobiographical movie. In this context, he said, ‘This journey of mine (transformation from woman to man) is completely different from the stories of children today. I had to choose either live or die.

Penelope said that she is very happy as an actress to get a chance to play such a complex role. Apart from ‘Limencita’, another film of Penelope of Venice is showing ‘On the Fringe’. This, however, appears to be outside of the competition category.