tarsosa

Aquarius is an interesting film, which has a good photography and a beautiful soundtrack, besides a compelling performance of the cast. Sonia Braga is great, playing a mature woman who stands for her rights and opinions. The story is shot in Recife and slowly presents the almost silent tug of war between Clara (Sonia) and the construction company. They want Clara sells them her apartment - the last one to be sold in the whole building - for the construction of a new property. The development of the characters is good, Kleber Mendonça Filho finds the correct pace for telling us Clara's story, so we can see why is so important to her to stay living in that place. In the other side, we have enough clues of how bad the other people fight against Clara, because there's real money and other interests involved. Although I think it worths watching, I recognize it is not a film for everyone; maybe some details only can be truly understood for people who has spent some time living in Brazil. I refer to the almost invisible social war between wealthy and poor people, represented in many subtle dialogues, gestures, and eye contact among characters. That's why I don't give 10, as a warning for non-Brazilian spectators.

This thriller is strangely underrated in Brazil, perhaps due to poor disclosure. It has a competent casting, beautiful shooting, writing, and editing. The dog thing reminds Iñarritu's "Amores Perros" (2000), as well the scene at the football stadium (the mythical Pacaembu stadium, in Sao Paulo), seems to be a reference to Campanella's "The Secret in Their Eyes" (2009), two recent important Latin American films. Lazaro Ramos performs a dreadful villain, the first bad guy in his successful career; Babu Santana is perfect as "Santana", a peaceful dogcatcher that plays the drums quite well, in a church. Santana's children are performed very consistently by Thainá Duarte (as "Isaura") and Vini Carvalho (as "João"). Even the dogs deliver a compelling acting! It is not a complex story, but it is beautifully done, and the film is worth seeing.