Calle Málaga is the story of Maria Angeles (Carmen Maura) and the lively community she is a part of in Malaga street in the picturesque port city of Tangier, Morocco.
Maria was born in Tangier, everybody on the street knows her. Her husband and many friends are buried in the local cemetery. Maria’s family were immigrants from Spain, and like most of the Spanish residents, her daughter Clara (Marta Etura) has remigrated back to Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar.
It seems to be a cultural difference that pushed Clara to move. In Madrid she is struggling to pay the rent after a divorce, while Maria has a nice life in her beautiful home in Tangier. Coming back to visit her mother, she doesn’t appreciate the close-knit community on Málaga street.
So to escape from renting and get a deposit on her own home, Marta decides to sell her mother’s apartment, and all her belongings right out from underneath her. The apartment was left by her father to his daughter Clara rather than to his wife, so Maria is forced to agree. It’s an awful, familiar story – a woman can’t claim what is rightfully hers after being widowed or divorced.
Financial pressure leads to a heinous act of elder abuse, the child forcing her independent mother to go and live in an old people’s home.
Issues of financial abuse and inter-generational inequity are skilfully raised by the film, but left unresolved by the unsatisfying ending. More enjoyably, ageism is tackled by Maria’s dynamic response to the impasse – hustling hard to keep her belongings and her home, reigniting love and sexual desire along the way. It’s also wonderful to see this beautiful city, people and cuisine represented in film.
Overall a lovely experience, there should be more senior romance represented on the big screen, as well as films discussing elder abuse and the migrant experience. Especially recommended for people like me who want to get excited about the World Cup but don’t really like football, fans of owls and antique furniture, and anyone who wants a travel experience just by going to the cinema.