Alejandro Springall's movie SANTITOS (LITTLE SAINTS) is a pure joy to watch. An allegory of a woman's search to find herself dressed in the symbolism of her religious faith, it's somewhat akin to Paolo Coelho's novella "The Alchemist" in spirit. Esperanza's plight to find her daughter Blanca (Maya Zapata) whom she believes is not dead is really a ruse to get her out of the strict confines of her home. The equivalent of a MacGuffin, we know at a gut level Blanca is clearly dead, but in Esperanza's mind, she is not because she has just seen the apparition of San Judas Tadeo within her oven. And in Latin-American culture, once a saint appears, you have to listen and act accordingly; after all, saints are all-knowing and have miracles to perform. For Esperanza, a miracle would be to be reunited with Blanca, but what she ignores is that saints and spirits work in special ways and put our love and devotion to the test. Visually a feast for the eyes, SANTITOS is equal parts magic realism, equal parts adventure, equal parts comedy, and equal parts visual surrealism, most notably in a sequence involving Esperanza walking into a brothel owned by a Doña Trini (Roberto Cobo) who has a surprise involving the worship of a cow. Dolores Heredia makes you believe in what otherwise would be madness. That she has to go so far away from home to find what was always there and come back a more complete person -- with a kind man in tow played by the masculine, regal Alberto Estrella -- is part of the fun this movie is.

This is really an excellent movie. I was very surprised to read the great reviews it got in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Dallas Morning News, New York Daily News, Time Out, LA Weekly, Movie Maker, etc. Incredible reviews appeared on most newspapers in Spain as well. I highly reccomend to see this fun picture becauser the story is unique, the acting superb, and the light-hearted way of telling this story is unforgettable. Don't miss this classic

Santitos has many wonderful things: great photography by Xavier Perez Grobet, some good acting, particularly by Demian Bichir, and the supporting actors, excellent art direction, a nice sense of humor, a good music score by Carlo Nicolau. Its weaknesses are a wooden performance by the actress who plays Esperanza, the main character. With a better, more expressive actor, this movie could have soared, since she has to carry the bulk of it. She's lovely to look at, but her performance lacks character. The story drags on a little bit too long and doesn't really seem to have much of a point. As is typical in Mexico it seems that women can only be either saints or whores -- and the novel and screenplay were written by a woman! However, it's a promising first film by Alejandro Springall and will undoubtedly delight fans of the "Like Water for Chocolate" school of magical realism.

After St. Jude appears in Esperanza's oven, she sets out to find her daughter, who died under mysterious circumstances. The journey forces Esperanza to challenge her own beliefs and face her fears in order to be reunited with her beloved daughter.The film is full of humor, sorrow, oddball characters, bizarre situations and danger. Through it all is an underlying message of the power that love has to change us all in the most unexpected ways.A visual treat too, "Santitos" paints a beautiful, funny and compassionate picture of Mexico. But director Springall doesn't isolate his message. We all know at least one of the characters, and have probably visited similar places. This connection to the world outside of Esperanza, Veracruz and Mexico is what manages to touch us all.