Sérgio Bianchi's first venture behind cameras is an amazingly well-made film that goes both ways: either you have a deja vu feeling about it, as
something you may had seen before or it's unique and original through it all. I had some deja vu vibes coming from it but couldn't connect where exactly
I had seen this idea before - or maybe it was from "Omnibus" itself and I didn't remember.
Through his brief, dark and anxious presentation, Bianchi gives us a treaty on the dangers of conformity and how individuality can face all the
sorts of criticisms, judgment and hard stares back at you. I see the representation of the lonely woman who gets stared at by all the other bus passengers as a
critique on totalitarism, then present through the military regime. She has something different going on (invisible to us, but seen by all the passengers
who give either nasty looks at her, or even some malicious ones as the poor woman doesn't how to react, all nervous) and that causes repulse, hatred, some
slightly curiousity. It changes a bit when a man enters the bus, and also becomes target from the crowd. When the two connect with themselves as being
out of the "norm" is that they understand why they're being stared at and a resolution comes by.
But besides the criticism or just seeing the story as it goes, Bianchi's film is a careful exercise in generating panic, anxiety and despair with its close-up
shots inside the bus in a voyage that never seems to end. With the exception of the opening scenes where the young woman is just by herself and having a
good time, the film was a shock to my nerves. It's not supposed to be an enjoyment but one that gives us true painful feelings and sensations. It can also
work for a metaphor on individualities, race, gender, sexuality, racism to a certain extent but we don't racial differences among the passengers, culture
and fashion too as we add a layer to the things we already are. And it's intriguing on why people bother her so much as we can't see anything wrong or
different with her. But it happens. That's society.
I only
icluded the symbolism as I've seen it due to his future movies becoming all revolving on serious topics in Brazilian society (the world too): from "Maldita Coincidência" to
"Cronicamente Inviável" and the final "Jogo das Decapitações", he's a master in generating extensive and critical debates on social/cultural/political
clashes about all backgrounds, from rich to poor. That's why the deep metaphor about the time in which was made works just perfect where the establishment had their prejudices.
A great short debut and one of the most memorable I've seen. Bear in mind, if watching the internet version (as I couldn't find anywhere neither
going to a retrospective of the director's career), the movie does not countain sound as it uses a Beatles song in it (royalties). But I wonder in what way
a lovely song as "Here Comes the Sun" would fit such scenario - probably used in the beginning or when the helpful man appears. 10/10.
