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Her writing is compelling, inquisitive and intriguing, and she's also a lot of fun to work with!
Reviews
Monos (2019)
What did I just see?
If your current savings allow you to grab just one festival movie, then book one ticket for Monos. It's the best movie I've watched so far at LFF19. It's visceral, never boring, an authentic and singular cinematic experience with no parallels. It resembles Even Dwarfs Started Small (Herzog, 1970), Embrace of the Serpent (Ciro Guerra, 2016), Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Herzog, 1972) and a FARC kidnapping movie, but not so much. It's innovative and irradiant.
A group of guerrilleros teenagers call themselves 'monos' (monkeys in Spanish). Their leader is a dwarf that comes from time to time to their base at the top of a mountain to train them militarily, but most of the time he communicates with their 'monos' via radio. That means that not always he can control the guerrilla soldiers. They also have the company of a female foreigner hostage and the cow Shakira.
Only halfway through the film, you start to understand the group dynamics and what they might be doing in such a savage part of the planet. Meanwhile, you are driven by a convulsion of images and sounds which incorporate natural and impulsive violence. It's interesting to note that violence is never clever or mean, as it is in The Report (Scott Z. Burns, also in LFF), for instance. Here violence is an expression of survival instincts, as well as an animalesque response to confinement. And then as soon as you grasp some 'meaning' it is taken away from you. Just like maybe what the guerrilla soldiers are fighting for.
Mica Levi's soundtrack (she also worked on Under the Skin, by Jonathan Glazer, 2014) enriches the story; camerawork is precise; the angles are creative and the tone is drowning. The thick narrative evolves surprisingly, as the soldiers leave the mountains to go deep into the South American rainforest. At this point, a dreadlocks-wearing Moises Arias assumes leadership, becoming ultimately a dictator.
In a very Herzogian style, untamed nature reveals as being bigger than man. The vigorous hostage resists, one of the kids is killed, another escape, weakening massively Moises. Although FARC is never mentioned, Alejandro Landes manages to create an impressing feature of current times. Monos is certainly one of the strongest movies in official competition.
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Saint Maud (2019)
What a stylish cry!
With the proliferation of online streaming service companies, the film industry had changed considerably in the last five years. There as some pros and cons, about which I am not going to write in detail, but there's at least one undeniable fact: sales and producers are looking for creative content. Free-to-air television channels, such as Film4, had to invest in the search for new talents, and specifically for female voices. It's under those circumstances that a voice such as Rose Glass was heard. I must confess, what a stylish cry!
As a movie produced for British TV, thriller is certainly not a risky bet. It is a popular genre among the British, as you can verify on this list released by the BFI. But Saint Maud is definitely not a common thriller. The film is set in Coney Island, UK, that despite being a seaside town, it is soaked up in loneliness. Its mostly empty beach is the perfect scenario to Katie, or Saint Maud, a nurse that has recently converted into Christianism. She's about to start a new job, as a carer in Amanda's house. Amanda, 49, is a former choreographer who is now spending her days begging for company in her wheelchair.
Maud and Amanda's clash is not only based on class and upbringing differences, Maud representing the essence of spiritual life, and Amanda's a preacher of hedonism. Most of all it puts into check mental issues. It is clear from the beginning that Maud is a tormented soul, and Amanda has long ago left the phase "mens sana in corpore sano".
Both characters have suffered traumas. Amanda's pain is visible and clinical, it's certainly difficult to cope with her new reality as her own life was devoted to movement. Something must have happened to Maud. It becomes clear when she meets a former co-worker who is surprised she's still working as a nurse.
Gradually, Maud's mind is revealed. It's dark. A whole set of artifices comes to life to build up this darkness: from insects to William Blake's paintings. We become aware that God is the second main character. Saint Maud speaks directly to narratives such as Paul Schrader's First Reformed -- read our review here. Likewise Ethan Hawke's character, Maud has to encourage someone else to face his demons when herself is failing to face her own.
In her debut film, Rose Glass has already formed her own solid style, with tints of gothic psychological drama. Saint Maud is part of the London Film Festival, that is currently on. If you miss it, check Film4 future program.
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The Lighthouse (2019)
The story is less important than the dusty, musty ambiance
After the unexpected success of his debut film The Witch, Robert Eggers launches The Lighthouse. The feature is already creating a commotion among critics and audiences in film festivals all over the world. This week the film was in Mostra de Cinema de São Paulo, where the public demanded for more open screenings, as the ones programmed were quickly sold out.
The filmmaker paired up with Robert Pattinson (Ephraim Winslow) and Willem Dafoe (Tom Wake) in a very dark black & white period film. The Lighthouse is difficult to be filed in a certain genre. Some say it is a horror movie, but it is too funny to the label. It definitely has the scent of Buñuel and sometimes it gets close to what Guillermo del Toro did in The Shape of Water (2017), but only if we consider the sea monsters and the mysticism. The tone, though, is radically diverse as its musicality is macabre. The story is less important than the dusty, musty ambiance.
Leaving Canada behind for the unforgiving terrains of the New England coast, Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) reluctantly arrives at the begrimed lighthouse where he will work for the next four weeks. Greeted with gruff hostility by Tom Wake (Willem Dafoe), a veteran seafarer with whom he is obliged to share these uncomfortably close quarters, the pair quickly establish a volatile dynamic, with Tom the baiting slave-driver and Ephraim his battered footman.
Ephraim and Tom hate each other. With his cranky, drunkard voice, Tom intimidates Ephraim to the point that they punch each other. -- It's a funny scene with no need for stunts. -- There is a creeping sense of fear and paranoia stirring Tom's thoughts. Their dynamics become extraordinarily credible despite the mythical creatures. A mermaid strikes a scene of masturbation. And yet Tom feels uncomfortable endlessly. He isn't able to relax.
It is possible that Pattinson's achievement in delivering an uncomfortable feeling comes from the fact that Dafoe is the lighthouse master. He is also mastering the stage. Dafoe never lost his theatrical background whilst Pattinson hasn't had much stage experience. The Lighthouse depends a lot on this weird chemistry called live theatre. The location is crucial for their performances. They feel miserable because they are on a miserable, rainy island surrounded by wild sea birds. They aren't performing for a green screen.
The hypnotic fusion of beauty and brutality is marked by folk traditions and heavy sound design. All lines are poetic and Eggers did massive research on dialects and sailors' lifestyle. Filming The Lighthouse must have been a challenge to all cast and crew involved.
As Brazilian, I can not not hat tip producer Rodrigo Teixeira, head of RT Features. He is investing heavily in risky productions that have reached successful outcomes. Rodrigo also produced Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017), Patti Cake$ (Geremy Jasper, 2017), Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach, 2012) and Severina (Felipe Hirsh, 2018).
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Sergio (2020)
"I think I am not very good at indefinite times"
The title of my review can be related to current times, as so many people are kept confined at their houses without knowing when Covid 19 will be defeated. In fact, though, it is one of Sergio Vieira de Mello's lines on his biopic, Sergio, launched last week on Netflix.
Based on true facts, Sergio depicts the vary last moments when the Brazilian diplomat was hit by a bomb in Baghdad intertwined with flashbacks of his services to the United Nations.
The movie focuses on his last missions. Sergio was a peacemaker in East Timor, guiding the former Portuguese colony occupied by Indonesia to independence, and he cleared land mines Cambodia in the 90s. His personal life with his children and a recent girlfriend Carolina Larriera, who also worked for UN, smooths his harsh life.
It is said that some of the facts illustrated in Greg Barker's feature are not true. For instance, Gil Loescher and Vieira de Mello were not close friends and colleagues as the film suggests. By the end of the movie, a subtitle explains that the character was a composite of the real Loescher and several members of Mello's team. To the storyline, though, this choice works well.
Once again, Moura proves that his career pathway goes from strength to strength. Neatly, his choices as an actor are done in order to avoid stereotypes, which let's talk frankly is rare in Hollywood, particularly if you are Latin American. After conquering relative exposure with characters that are involved with criminal activities -- Pablo Escobar in Narcos and Lt. Nascimento in Elite Squad --, Sergio is a role model that uplifts Brazilian people. He was a very competent professional, a multilingual and a humanitarian. Previously, as a director Moura launched at Berlinale 2019 Marighella, a rebel that fought against torture and censorship in Brazil in the 60s. Due to the current regime in Brazil, Marighella was controversially denied release date in national territory.
Sergio's relevance today is clear. His never-ending idealism and fight for human rights are still much needed and must be praised. Despite working for an organisation with limited powers that often faces problems keeping the peace, a world without the UN is simply a barbaric place.