A lovely short film that celebrates two unsung heroes of Brazil and the black community, "O Papel e o Mar" ("The Paper and the Sea") presents a
fictional encounter between writer Carolina Maria de Jesus and sailor João Cândido, with both historical figures sharing their life experiences, teaching
each other about life, and how memory and history isn't simply washed away without importance.
A real background of both: Carolina lived in poverty for most
of her life and had a limited education, but in 1960 one of her diaries was published as a book ("Quarto de Despejo"), posterior works were released after
her death, in 1977; João was best remembered for being one of the leaders one of the Revolta da Chibata (Whipping Revolt), when he and other sailors took over
a ship to protest against corporal punishment in the Navy, still enforced a decade after the abolishment of slavery. He got the nickname of Black Admiral and
succeed with his actions, but was later arrested, expelled from the navy and vanished into obscurity until his death in 1969.
The film takes place in 1958 where both characters, excluded from society and living their lives in a simple way, meet in Rio de Janeiro and they
strike an initially curious conversation, discovering each other as they were not familiar with one another. She collects papers off the street; and he's
an alleged fisherman. In between opposite talks and some agreement, they teach each other about the qualities they have as human beings, the legacy they
left or will leave, and the uniqueness individuals have in building their lives and writing their stories (or they place in history). João feels that he's
been erased from history (and I'm afraid this is becoming quite factual these days) while Carolina tries to feel a deeper need in sharing her battles and
her life in a favela.
The performances of Dirce Thomas and Zózimo Bulbul are a delight to our eyes and ears, as you can sense this duo living in a different era, and
they have a great chemistry together, an almost innocent manner. The most important bits from the dialogue are quite intelligent and thoughtful, demanding
a certain attention from the viewer in seeing through why they fail to understand each other and later on find a common ground.
Beyond the characters life examination, their questions and thoughts are thrown back at us: Where's our place in history? Will be simply washed away
or there'll be a way to leave something important behind? Which way we can serve best our community or the ones we form an identity (gender, race, sexuality,
etc), in becoming loud but unsung voices to it or doing simple tasks can have a positive effect as well? So much to learn and experience with this film, that's
also one of the greatest possibilities of cinema. 8/10.
