I became aware of the film Looking for Maria Sanchez (or 200 Cartas, as it is originally titled) when I was looking deeper into the career of Lin-Manuel Miranda, who plays the protagonist in this film.

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The film follows the hopeless romantic protagonist Raul. (Lin-Manuel Miranda)  A Puerto Rican man who was born in New York, as he struggles in the comic book industry. One Night, he falls in love at first sight with a Puerto Rican woman called Maria Sanchez but before they can exchange numbers they are separated and she flies back to Puerto Rico. Falling helpless in love, Raul and his best friend Juan (Jaime Camil) fly to Puerto Rico to find this beautiful, yet mysterious woman. Although, when the two men land on the island they discover that there are over 200 Maria Sanchez’s in the phone book, adventure and romance ensues…

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The film is bilingual, using both the English and Spanish language. At the start English is predominantly used by most of the characters in large groups and narration, Spanish is used amongst Raul and his best friend Juan. Although, once Raul becomes infatuated with Maria and progressively moves back to Puerto Rico he uses Spanish more frequently. I believe that this helps the audience understand the character of Raul opening up and discovering his Spanish roots. As with the choice of two languages, there are only two large scale locations, those being New York and Puerto Rico. animation is also present on the screen, which complies with the versimiltude, as the protaganist works in the comic book industry. The camera also helps the audience sympathise with the Miranda, as he is usually cast in high angles, but when he finally reunited with Maria the camera is brought central, as to externalise the protaganists emotions of finally feeling whole, or equal.

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The film was directed by Bruno Irizarry, an actor and Director. Who would later star in The Rum Diaries (2011) With Johnny Depp. It was also distributed by Vanguardia Films (an independent Spanish film company) for around $1 million, and only earnt around $7,000.

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However, the success of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s sophomore Broadway Production ‘Hamilton’ based on the founding fathers of America. His guidance and help on the music for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. As well as his recent deal with Disney to star in several films and compose several more, the film has gained more attention than it ever hoped for, for a small independent film set on an island only 100 miles across.