Mataharis 2007

The notion of the female spy as glamorous femme fatale is given a reality check in this intriguing and refreshing movie from Spain. "The Spanish filmmaker (and actress) Icíar Bollaín captures a world in which women are doing the looking: the movie follows three private detectives in Madrid employed by the same agency, who, in the course of doing their jobs, discover more about their own lives than those of the people who have engaged their services... The 'spies' of Mataharis aren't seductresses - at least, not obviously so. But each is beautiful and alluring in a way that's strongly individual... As we watch these women watching the men around them, their absorption in the act of looking is so visceral, we can practically hear their pulses... Mataharis explores the consequences of really seeing, and the necessity of believing what you're seeing - as opposed to seeing only what you want to believe." — Stephanie Zacharek, FIPRESCI