The main character, Yessica, is a tomboy who is often in trouble. As a result, she is transferred to a new school, where she meets Miriam, who lives with her mother in what seems to Yessica like luxury. While Miriam's mother's main concern is saving enough money to get a better television, Yessica doesn't even have a bedroom to sleep in or money for the most basic school supplies. When Yessica's step-brother arranges for her to be raped, things go from bad to worse. In her environment she doesn't feel like there is anyone she can tell, so she must suffer silently, which reminded me of how the women in "Missing Young Woman" were often not missed.

This film, which was Mexico's nomination for best foreign language film of 2001, is difficult to watch, but it's worth the effort. My notes also indicate that I liked the soundtrack. Seen at Cinequest (the San Jose, CA film festival) on 2/27/2002.

After watching PERFUME DE VIOLETAS one wonder's if Mexican Cinema can go beyond portraying the sour and depressing stories of urban life. This is not the first entry of the "true life" story gender. Not withstanding looking at the film the cinematic process stands-out beyond anything else. The actresses are great, if one considers that this was their film debut, the surprise is even bigger, great work by the director. The photography also adds to the realm of desperation and reality, a careful camera work with saturated images and colors, changing the lighting and atmosphere between the homes of the two girls. Probably the low point of the film is the music use. It's so directed to the marketing of the soundtrack that make's you wonder if there was other consideration in its use. When the image and the song show the same thing then one or the other is overstating and therefore a waste. Good work and an appalling ending. Its going for the Oscar but probably will be left before the nominees, but it's worth watching.

Semi exploitation movie that is more of a social critic against Mexican's lower class. I have mixed feelings for this movie. First, when it came out in theaters I thought it was a pretentious low budget movie that tried to capitalize the growing social discontent in Mèxico caused by the controversial 2000 Presidential elections. Mèxico City has always been a target for society's biggest problems like raping, extreme poverty, robbing, etc. I didn't like how crude this movie was and how it didn't had subtlety.

Years later after a second watch my opinions changed. The truth is that "Perfume de Violetas" is a perfect display of the true horrors that the low class suffer.

There are strong scenes that will be better understood by an adult audience although teenagers should watch them with maturity. For example, Yessica's menstruation problems, the raping scenes, physical and verbal violence, and the disturbing ending. Those and more scenes will give you a better perspective of how child abuse is something that could lead to irreversible tragedies. Open your eyes and raise your ears parents! Sometimes, we as teenagers feel that nobody listens to our so called problems.

This movie will certainly depress you but it will also open your eyes...

The technical values of the movie aren't the best but the low budget was squeezed to it's maximum. The acting couldn't be better. Ximena Ayala delivers a raw, believable, dramatic, and solid performance. She simply shines as the tormented Yessica. Many girls for sure will feel identified with it. Nancy Gutièrrez is perfect as the cute and naive Miriam. I just wanted to hold her and save her from her destiny! Very good performance. The sexy and mature Arcelia Ramìrez delivers a solid performance as the hard working mother. Marìa Rojo is great as always. The rest of the cast is also very good. The direction is also crude but perfect. It truly shows how is Mèxico City at day and night. My only beef is with the score but it's just a matter of tastes because it isn't bad at all although some songs I feel are out of place. So this is a perfect example of how low budget can do wonders.

NOBODY LISTENED TO HER... Through Yessica and Miriam we have the two faces of the coin. On one side, we have the tender, skinny Miriam who only lives with her hard working mother who always is pending on her. Her life isn't perfect exactly talking about economic and social questions, but she has everything to succeed in a future. On the other side, we have Yessica; a troubled girl who cannot express her inner fears and preoccupations because she reasonably feels that nobody will listen to her. Her mother spends her time taking care of her young brother and spending time with her lover (s?); her step-brother who prostitutes her with a friend; and her school friends who discriminate her for being something like tomboy. So she only has Miriam, her only friend.

Through some events we can understand that Yessica had extremely and growing jealousy for Miriam. But it isn't because Yessica is a bad person or something; it is because she's a misunderstood and tormented soul who was only asking for comprehension and love. Through Miriam, she saw what she always wanted to be but she couldn't.