Clara, a 65 year old widow and retired music critic, was born into a wealthy and traditional family in Recife, Brazil. She is the last resident of the Aquarius, an original two-story ...
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A teenage girl with nothing to lose joins a traveling magazine sales crew, and gets caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying, law bending and young love as she criss-crosses the Midwest with a band of misfits.
Iremar works at the "Vaquejadas", a rodeo in the North East of Brazil where two men on horseback try bring down a bull by grabbing its tail. It's dusty and back-breaking work, but Iremar is... See full summary »
When the estranged daughter of a hard-working live-in housekeeper suddenly appears, the unspoken class barriers that exist within the home are thrown into disarray.
Director:
Anna Muylaert
Stars:
Regina Casé,
Helena Albergaria,
Michel Joelsas
Clara, a 65 year old widow and retired music critic, was born into a wealthy and traditional family in Recife, Brazil. She is the last resident of the Aquarius, an original two-story building, built in the 1940s, in the upper-class, seaside Boa Viagem Avenue, Recife. All the neighboring apartments have already been acquired by a company which has other plans for that plot. Clara has pledged to only leave her place upon her death, and will engage in a cold war of sorts with the company. This tension both disturbs Clara and gives her that edge on her daily routine. It also gets her thinking about her loved ones, her past and her future.
During the film's premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, the cast and crew the film staged a protest against the allegedly illegitimate impeachment of then Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff. They held signs reading "Brazil is experiencing a coup d'etat" and "54,501,118 votes set on fire!" which was deemed a brave and polemic act. See more »
Quotes
Clara:
So when you like it, it's vintage; when you don't like it, it's old. Is that right? You guys don't know what it's like to feel crazy without being crazy and that the madness is out there, don't you? Another thing that's really crazy around here is that we're talking about money.
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Thematically "Aquarius" is sweeping, their issues are current, urgent and universal, and are treated in a palpable way. The direction of Kleber Mendonça Filho is inventive and risky, and interested and observant, and mise en scène sensibly captures the film's message. The technical part is excellent: The edition (the film is divided into 3 parts) is coherent and employs a rhythm, which, despite its long duration, never tires the spectator; The soundtrack, mostly diegetic, talks to the situations and emotions of the characters, pampering the audience with great songs (emphasis on the theme song); And the production design is perfect, imparting an incredible sense of real makes us believe that this apartment is real and livable, causing us to import and create an almost affective relationship with that house. And Sônia Braga gives a show. She understands, feels and lives the character. Sônia is Clara, and seeing her acting very willingly is exciting.
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Thematically "Aquarius" is sweeping, their issues are current, urgent and universal, and are treated in a palpable way. The direction of Kleber Mendonça Filho is inventive and risky, and interested and observant, and mise en scène sensibly captures the film's message. The technical part is excellent: The edition (the film is divided into 3 parts) is coherent and employs a rhythm, which, despite its long duration, never tires the spectator; The soundtrack, mostly diegetic, talks to the situations and emotions of the characters, pampering the audience with great songs (emphasis on the theme song); And the production design is perfect, imparting an incredible sense of real makes us believe that this apartment is real and livable, causing us to import and create an almost affective relationship with that house. And Sônia Braga gives a show. She understands, feels and lives the character. Sônia is Clara, and seeing her acting very willingly is exciting.