Rating: 3.5/5
A woman lay on her deathbed. She sings a song that details her rape and the death of her husband. During her assault, she was pregnant with her daughter, Fausta. As she dies, Fausta joins in the song, singing the little things she does. Before Fausta knows it, her mother has died.
Fausta steps outside to hear her cousin, Máxima, complaining about her bridal train being too short. Máxima’s parents, Fausta’s aunt and uncle, assure her it looks fine. Máxima asks Fausta what she thinks, and Fausta collapses, bleeding.
She wakes up in a hospital room. A doctor explains to her uncle that Fausta has a potato in her vagina — an older generation’s method of dissuading rape attempts. She will not let the doctors remove it or treat her. If the potato remains inside her, it will spread bacteria and cause more health problems.
The uncle informs the doctor that Fausta bleeds and faints when she’s scared because of Milk of Sorrow — a Peruvian disease, said to be transmitted through the breast milk of women who were victims of rape during pregnancy.
The doctor offers to help cauterize the wound that causes her to bleed and informs the uncle that Milk of Sorrow is a superstitious belief, not an actual disease.
Fausta wants to take her mother back to their village for burial, but her uncle does not have the money for such a trip. So, she takes work for Aída, a wealthy pianist.
The film follows Fausta as she spends more time with Aída. Fausta must decide whether she can continue to live in the fear her mother passed down to her or experience a life of her own.
The history of the Peruvian conflict is long and complex, going back to 1980. While the conflict mostly subsided by 2000, remnants of Shining Path are still active in select parts of Peru. During those 20 years, statistics estimate between 50 and 70 thousand deaths occurred, with at least 75% of those deaths being Native Peruvians. Security force members and the army used mass rape as a war strategy, wherein as many as 30 men would rape a woman. These attacks would often result in pregnancies.
The film explores the generational trauma these events caused through Fausta, who grew up with her mother’s stories of what happened to her and the people she knew. Though not stated in the film, actress Magaly Solier Romero, who plays Fausta, is Native Peruvian, born to a Quechua family. She has been an outspoken supporter of keeping indigenous culture alive.
It also explores class disparity and how the upper class can so casually exploit lower-class people.
The potato is an intentional choice for its prominence in Quechua culture. The potato is the most basic part of their diet. Peru has over 2800 native types of potatoes. They say different potatoes can cure certain illnesses. They also play a role in cultural traditions. For example, the film shows a ritual in which a man’s mother gives a prospective daughter-in-law a knobby tuber. She must be careful to only peel the skin. If she peels more than that, she cannot marry the woman’s son.
The film does not chase any straightforward answers. Her fear is justified and understandable. Even when she attempts to trust no men in her life, men still betray it. How she can escape it is uncertain. How it manifests in Fausta belongs to her and grows abstract in places — the presence of a man can cause as much fear as a drill.
The movie acts as a glimpse into a culture folks like myself know little to nothing about. Fausta’s trauma gives us one aspect, but the film is multifaceted in its intent, for better or worse.