A separation

Asghar Farhadi, 2011

We get painfully desperate about not having seen the scene of the fall with a tad more attention. In the end it is easy to feel empathy with almost every single character despite their anxious disagreements. A revealing window into everyday life in Iran, the nuances of day-to-day affairs and their unescapable problems and beauty.

Le Havre

2011, Aki Kaurismaki, with Andre Wilms

Raw, simple and sweet. Isolates small elements of life, showing how easy sometimes it is to be decent in our decisions, affect the world around us. Great aesthetics, minimalist but full of colour and contrast, pleasant, attached to old objects and their modern functionality, symbolism. A criticism of the overly fast pace of modern life, which sometimes prevents us from pondering about what is the right thing to do towards those we like.

"The more pessimistic I feel, the more optimistic I need to make my movies. That’s my refuge" - Kaurismaki

Husbands

Centro Cultural de Belém, 17 de Março 2012 - Texto de John Cassavetes, Encenação Ivo van Hove, Halina Reijn

À partida tinha tudo para dar certo. Boa história, set pimpão, excelentes actores e  uma inteligente engenhoca -- uma pequena câmara que nos dá o ponto de vista dos actores, exibida numa pequena tela no topo do palco.

Tinha tudo para dar certo mas morreu e destruiu-se primeiro nos detalhes e depois na encenação. A tradução de holandês para português foi péssima e muitas cenas, pouco económicas, arrastavam-se por demasiado tempo desnecessariamente.

Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy

2011, Tomas Alfredson

A spy film at ease with grabbing our attention. Still, don’t be surprised if you miss out on some of the narrative pieces, it’s got many characters  and nuanced behaviors that the storyteller does not overly  bother to explain. Do remember though that spy films are generally great.

The Iron Lady

2011, Phyllida Lloyd, with Meryl Streep

Fabulous first scene. What it bests captures is the frequent ephemeral nature of power when we look back in retrospect at the end of one’s life. Thatcher is someone that had such impact and lived through such complex stories that it is almost inevitable to oversimplify her life episodes when we strive to show them in quick succession, which did happen.