Mariel (María Villar) longs to play the role of Isabella in a local theater troupe’s production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, but money problems prevent her from preparing for the audition. She thinks of asking her brother for financial help, but is worried about being too direct. Her solution is to ask her brother’s girlfriend, Luciana (Agustina Muñoz), a more established actress, to convince her brother to give her the money. Luciana agrees on the condition that Mariel will not abandon her acting and continue to prepare for the part of Isabella. A complex tale of friendship, rivalry, and artistic connection, the film flits back and forth in time, from the days leading up to the crucial audition to years later, after the women have moved on to new dreams and collaborations.
The latest in Matías Piñeiro’s series of films inspired by the women of Shakespeare’s comedies, Isabella is his most structurally daring and visually stunning work to date. As in such subtly magical dramas of the everyday as The Princess of France and Hermia & Helena, Piñeiro uses Shakespeare’s text to anchor a loose yet intellectually rigorous examination of life’s loves, labors, and futile pursuits, all played out with the minutest of gestures. Through their rich and layered performances, regular Piñeiro players Muñoz and Villar demonstrate a profound intimacy formed over more than a decade of collaboration with their director. Isabella is a film about the ongoing battle between doubt and ambition that never discounts the possibility of a new beginning.
