Rita Moreno: just a girl who decided to go for it

"The first time I interviewed Rita, I had prepared a series of questions about the highlights of her career. As soon as she started talking, I immediately saw myself reflected in her answers. It was as if I was talking to a therapist who understood exactly what I had been through. I made the connection with everything she was saying: her stories of discrimination, the insecurities she felt because of how others perceived her, the complicated love relationships, and the constant need to work three times as hard to prove to others that she was worthy. It was then that I realized that this film was not just a biographical documentary about Rita's life, but a story about all the women who feel alone as they struggle to assert themselves in a patriarchal society rooted in white supremacy". - Mariem Pérez Riera

But who Rita Moreno really is and what important impact this actress has had on Hollywood are the important questions that this excellent documentary discovered at the Sundance Film Festival succeeds in answering. After winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award throughout her career, Rita Moreno as a young Puerto Rican comedian has had to fight constantly to succeed in a career in a Hollywood that is rather hostile to racial minorities. After many supporting roles in simple productions, it is thanks to the film West Side Story (1961) by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise that she won recognition from the press but also from the public by winning the Oscar for best supporting actress. However, this film did not make her a world star, as this documentary shows so well, but on the contrary tried to lock her into identical roles, leaving her with little opportunity to show the immensity of her talent. Victim of racism and sexism, this great actress did not have the career she deserved and is confined to second roles more or less enigmatic.

Using images, excerpts and interviews, this documentary shows us the journey of a woman who has never stopped wanting to renew herself, to fight against inequalities that are hardly to the credit of the Hollywood studios and who has managed to make a great career with outstanding roles. It's no coincidence that for her remake of West Side Story, director Steven Spielberg gave her the role of Valentina but also that she occupies an important place as executive producer. The great strength of this documentary is to have allowed Rita Moreno to look back on her past, her career but also her private life and the many difficulties she had to face. We feel throughout this excellent documentary that the director Mariem Pérez Riera has not only been able to assemble a multitude of exciting information but also understood the importance that this comedy has had on a whole generation of actors that it is Eva Longoria and Lin-Manuel Miranda who show all their admiration for her.

Far from these soporific and hagiographic documentaries that seem to bring out only the glitz and glitter of Hollywood, Rita Moreno: just a girl who decided to go for it shows all the complexity of being able to make a career in the world of cinema. It easily establishes itself as one of the best documentaries on the film world discovered in a long time and we can only encourage you to discover it in its upcoming release.

Rita Moreno: just a girl who decided to go for it (USA)
Directed by Mariem Pérez Riera
Produced by Brent Miller, p.g.a., Mariem Pérez Riera, Ilia J. Vélez Dávila
Executive Producers: Norman Lear, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Michael Kantor, Regina K. Scully, Lyn Davis Lear
Starring Gloria Estefan, Morgan Freeman, Whoopi Goldberg, Eva Longoria, Justina Machado, Karen Olivo
Music by Kathryn Bostic
Music Supervisor: Maureen Crowe
Cinematography: Pedro Juan López
Edited by Kevin Klauber, Mariem Pérez Riera
Distributed by ACT III
Release date : January 29, 2021 (Sundance)
Running time: 90 minutes

Seen on January 30, 2021 (Sundance Festival)

Mulder's Mark: