I recently saw this at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Although nothing to do with film the name Mata Hara has become synonymous with female spies or femme fatal's as she was a Dutch exotic dancer who was convicted and executed by the French in world War I, accused of being a German spy. So here in this film we have three female private detectives thus the stretch of the name Mataharis as the film title. In this modern story set in Madrid, Eva (Najwa Nimri) is the married mother of two assigned to a rather mundane case of tracking down an old man's first love and who because of her detective skills has stumbled upon the possibility that her husband Iñaki (Tristán Ulloa) may not only be having an affair but leading a double life with another wife and family. Carmen (Nuria González) is assigned to a case by a man who believes his business partner is doing unreported company work on the side only to find out he's got something else going on the side too. Inés (María Vásquez) is the detective agencies youngest agent and she is assigned to work undercover as a factory employee to spy on the activities of it union bosses only to fall in love with one who she is supposed to be spying on. It's a great cast and a very realistic story from actress turned writer/director Icia Bollain and co written by Tatiana Rodrigues. Bollain directs. Nice photography from cinematographer Kiko De La Rica. It's kind of like a Lifetime for Women movie channel movie but hey, I like Lifetime for Women movies and I could actually see someone remaking this in the USA as an English language movie for television. I would give this a 7.5 out of 10 and recommend it.
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johno-2130 January 2008
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hessfamily21 July 2016Set in Madrid, this movie gives a new twist to private investigator movies, with a view that focuses on the lives of three female private investigators.
As with most actual private investigations, there are no car chases and no shoot-outs. The real drama is the betrayal the investigators reveal and the betrayals they commit to investigate others. In turn, they discover that their own lives are just as troubled as the clients the seek to help.
The acting is excellent, the stories are believable, and the editing and production are top quality. The Spanish audio quality is good and English subtitles are available. In short, if you are looking for an action-packed spy movie, go elsewhere. However, if you want good drama, sweetened with intimacy,caring, and a few drops of subtle romance, this movie well worth your time. -
Iciar Bollain, who made the debut film "Take My Eyes", tells the story about three women who live in Madrid. The director uses an allegorical expression to talk about three middle-aged women's lives. In addition to personal stories, she emphasizes social messages like her first movie, Take My Eyes. These women characters are detectives and they observe other people's lives; however, they have a lot of problems in their marriages and they cannot resolve their problems. The director approaches every character sentimentally. Furthermore she emphasizes the problems which are bigger. The women, having problems in their lives, care about housework and childcare for their children. Also there is such great the segregation between women and men in society. They struggle with social inequality. If we thought about the movie with all its elements, we would say that "Mataharis" is an impressive and realistic movie; however, it's not better than Take My Eyes.
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flrsgmz4 December 2008It would be difficult for any filmmaker to top Iziar Bollain's previous film, Te doy mis ojos, a true masterpiece. She just preferred to change the genre. From that point of view, these Mata Haris are a bit deceiving. Was it signed by any other director, the film would be celebrated as a successful and original genre piece. The main characters are definitely believable and the film delivers a precise portrait of this day Spain, with a varied group of characters trying to live his life among the conflicts that define our modern days: Unfaithfull grooms, treacherous partners, hypocritical friends and lovers, dishonest employers... The story revolves about a group of women private eyes, the perfect excuse to peek on other peoples lives. In all it's entertaining and enjoyable, and I am sure that Mrs Bollain will deliver soon another masterpiece.
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This is a great movie about three women who worked for a detective agency. While hired/contracted/spied on those clients' appointed targets, we, the viewers, have become the spies checking on their own personal lives, their dying and endangered marriage, the relationship between the detective and the target, the numbness of the husbands and wives, the secret dilemma between them. It's so subtle yet so heart broken. The relationships of the two married couples are so heartfelt miserable, making viewers like us to look at our own relationship. The movie didn't show you any dramatic or dangerous plot and it's quite predictable, but the screenplay, the directing, the acting, the sound track... are all top notched. This is a great movie.
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jotix1008 July 2009The lives of three women working for a detective agency in Madrid are examined in this story. There is Carmen, an older woman, whose marriage, to what appears to be a workaholic, is in its last legs. Then there is Ines, a single woman whose work requires her to infiltrate a firm in the outskirts of the city as a cleaner. The last one, Eva, discovers in the worst way that her husband has a secret life he never shared with her.
We have admired director Iciar Bollain, who is also an actress. This is a fragmented view of three lives at a moment they must do something to either move on, as Carmen does; or just renounce to a possible happier involvement with the man Ines was spying; or maybe resolve the issues that have made Eva so unhappy. The problem is that the screenplay by Tatiana Rodriguez doesn't prove anything, leaving the viewer wishing for something more.
We have not been fans of Najwa Nimri, who appears as Eva. Our main problem is the way she modulates her voice, which sounds like a mumble most of the time, but we have to be fair in that her Eva is one of the best things she has done, guided by an astute Iciar Bollain. Maria Vazquez, seen as Ines, might be Ms. Bolloain's alter ego because of the resemblance to the director. Finally, Nuria Gonzalez makes an impression by portraying a serious character who discovers what it is to be appreciated by someone other than her husband, and to dance again. Tristan Ulloa, Antonio DelaTorre, Diego Martin, Fernando Cayo, and the rest of the supporting actors do a fine job as well.
One can only hope Ms. Bolloain will get back to form for her next project. -
ma-cortes7 July 2023This interesting and attractive film deals with three private detectives . Eva (Najwa Nimri) has just went back to work after having given birth to her second child . She cannot juggle the children, her hubby Iñaki (Tristán Ulloa) and her job obligations. Carmen (Nuria González) is the most experienced of the three detectives, but her marriage to Alberto (Adolfo Fernández) is about to break down . Inés (María Vázquez) has just received her great breakthrough at the work : she has to investigate the theft of goods from the multinational headquarters' warehouse by two employes , Manuel (Diego Martín) and another one . Stiff-upper-lip Valbuena (Fernando Cayo) run the company and he is especially lucky about the last job : it will mean high-level contacts and 30,000 euros in charges . These three surveillance specialists often invade others' privacy but are clueless about confronting their own secrets . All three take on difficult problems and they have to make thorny decisions and to face with hard emotional feeling .
Intelligent and brooding drama with plenty of emotion , agreeable scenes , intrigue and sensational performances . This is a deliberately paced flick about a private detective agency whose members infiltrate the lives of other employees , as our protagonists will have to cross the thin line dividing public and private matters, bringing their own issues to light in order to solve more than just their professional cases and along the way making emotional and ethical decisions . A satisfying journey of a team of sleuths become involved into adulteries , family problems , injustices , self-discovery amidst laboral exploitation and an uneven social system . It displays great feeling , emotion and thought-provoking melodrama in which strong choices have to be taken , surrounding humanitarianism and family . This brooding flick sometimes results to be slow-moving , relying heavily on the long relationships among protagonists and their unfortunes or distresses . Actresses and actors give lively and sensitive acting , such as : Najwa Nimri as Eva who just back from maternity leave, is juggling work and family obligations when she discovers that her partner Iñaki : Tristán Ulloa is hiding something fundamental to their future as a couple . Nuria González is pretty good as Carmen, the most experienced of the three, observes and tapes Sergio : Antonio de la Torre's marital collapse but can't see her own marriage is dead . While Maria Vázquez is fine as private detective Inés who infiltrates the employees at a multinational corporation and thanks to the collaboration of Manuel : Diego Martín , she gets to the heart of company intrigues.
It contains a stirring and enjoyable musical score by Lucio Godoy , including various songs , such as : ¨Maneras de vivir¨ written by Rosendo Mercado , Ramiro Penas, performed by Rosendo Mercado ; ¨Al son del tambor¨ written by Antonio Flores, Lolita Flores and Rosario Flores ; ¨Sin documentos¨ written by Andrés Calamaro performed by María Vázquez and Diego Martín ; ¨Esa luz¨ music by Piti Sanz and Luis Tosar , lyrics by Luis Tosar and Santiago García de Leániz , performed by Luis Tosar and ¨Sal solito¨. As well as evocative and adequate cinematography by Kiko de la Rica. The motion picture was originally directed by Iciar Bollain . She has worked as a leading actress in selected films like The South (1983) by 'Victor Erice', Malaventura (1988) by 'Manuel Gutiérrez Aragon , Land and Freedom (1995) by Ken Loach, it became an acclaimed audience's and critics' choice ; Leo (2000) by 'Jose Luis Borau' that won the Best Actress nomination Goya Spanish Academy Awards and Nos Miran (2002) . She is a prestigious producer , writing and directing since then both documentaries and fiction films. In 1995, she wrote and directed her feature film debut, ¨Hola, ¿estás Sola?¨ (1995), awarded with Best New Director in Valladolid Festival and was nominated for Best Directorial Debut by the Spanish Film Academy. The film became one of Spain's 1996 box office hits. Flowers from another world(1999), was her second feature film and was awarded at Cannes Film Festival 1999, Best Film in the International Critics' Week ; ¨Take my eyes¨, 2003, was her following film as writer and director, winner of 7 Goyas Spanish Academy Awards, including Best Film, among many other international awards. Her next feature film was ¨Mataharis (2007)¨ , subsequently , ¨Katmandu¨ and finally ¨El Olivo¨ at her best . Mataharis (2007) rating : 6.5/10. Well worth watching. -
maximkong17 November 2012Interesting take on three female detectives 'spying' on their own lives, however the movie is far from perfect.
Amongst the three arcs, only Carmen's story is close to being wholesome (with a great ending), while the other two arcs are really just extras in my opinion, as they did not generate enough substance of their own and failed to stand out as complete stand-alone stories of their own. One of the arc was too conventional or clichéd, while the other arc... I really do not get why that arc existed in the first place. This imperfection is the main (and huge) drawback to my rating, otherwise if the script were to be adjusted to at least bring the other two arcs to be as strong or better than Carmen's, and somehow intertwined the three stories together in a good way, this film could have easily been a 9.5 star. Pity.