In Her Place: A Relationship Melodrama of Some While others may view the film through the prism of crime fiction, a description that falls short in accurately describing it and saying that the film is a “crime drama” would be an understatement. It’s an interest aroused in the psyche of a varied woman, a societal discomfort that challenges the viewer from both an intellectual and aesthetically commendable piece. Audiences in search of a decent edge-of-the-seat thriller may have to skip this film as it is more about a narrative based on proven fact than the glorification of the event itself.
The story takes place in the 1950s in Chile and focuses on Mercedes, who assisted a judge professionally but assumed all the responsibilities of a housewife in her husband’s home, taking care of their two small boys. True to the expectation, the script built the plot in no more than 90 minutes which would have been easy to keep viewers glued to the last episode. In Her Place follows a female protagonist who is, for all practical purposes, an ordinary person.
The inciting incident is a murder case in which a famous writer called Georgina (a real-life writer) brings Teresa up close to Robert inside a restaurant filled with potential witnesses. As the judge reflects on the case, Constanza (who can get Georgina’s keys) begins to turn the author’s beautiful apartment into her residence. A resolution that begins the process of being and growing into something else.
What I find very important is treatment and here In Her Place did well. Two elements work in tandem to display how Mercedes undergoes gradual changes, with the script and Zulueta’s perfect impersonation first, the change in clothes, makeup, books, and finally the sleeping space. There is no excessive dramatization, no great jumps in her.
Rather the story prefers the minor insurgencies which include the use of dark lipstick combined with an upscale dress, a shiny gold bracelet, and having the luxury of soaking in a bathtub in total privacy.
They appear to be insignificant matters in everyday life, but this is a shift in Mercedes’ universe a place where she pays attention to her work all day, only to return to a four-member household with swinging doors, relatives rotating in and out and cooking meals, so generously, that she gets to eat only a fraction of hers. This is also a contrast that the movie does well painting with a sepia tone the family house while showcasing Georgina’s apartment looking picture-perfect in all the colours of spring.
At the same time, the crime being investigated is a little more than a mere accusation, it is an examination of society in the times of the patriarchal system. Contradictory statements concerning the incident demonstrate what brutal standards Georgina must endure for her freedom in society. The history between her and Robert challenges the norms of patriarchy regarding women. The reason behind the crime takes the story into romance, artistry, and its reproduction.
There are, however, several aspects that the narrative didn’t delve into further. Including the idea of class and how women tend to have more leeway because of it. Hits constantly combine these diverse themes into one coherent plot.
In In Her Place, there is barely a mention of the crime and even of Georgina herself, as they are only there to serve as a brief distraction for Mercedes, the main character. And the genre isn’t a crime thriller as much as it is a slice-of-life. It allows the plot to focus on a mundane routine of a person instead of looking for the clues that will explain the ‘case’. There is no big mystery, no crescendo of Mercedes’s obsession with Georgina.
Some viewers will not comprehend this film, or will quite easily, in coy inflexions or complex style commas. But any woman who has spent many hours trapped in a kitchen will understand the relief that Mercedes experiences in that apartment.
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