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Showing posts with label Karim Ainouz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Karim Ainouz. Show all posts

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Love and Music


Love for Sale (2006, Brazil, Director Karim Ainouz): Rating 6.5/10


The only reason I got Love for Sale (or Suely in the Sky) was because of Karim Ainouz. I had enjoyed Ainouz's previous directorial venture Madame Satã and his writing in Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures & Lower City. But I have to admit that after seeing 15 films in my Brazilian spotlight this year, Love for Sale was one movie too much. The story is reflected in other Brazilian films I saw this year, especially in Deserto Feliz.



In Deserto Feliz, a girl leaves her village for Sao Paulo. But in the big cruel city, she is forced into prostitution to make ends meet and longs for an escape from Sao Paulo. In Love for Sale Hermila returns back from Sao Paulo to Iguatu with her young baby and moves into her mother-in law's house. Gradually it is clear that Hermila's 20 year old husband has no interest in looking after her and the baby as he stays in the city and does not attempt to make contact with her. So Hermila longs for an escape far away from Iguatu. But since she has no money, she comes up with a scheme to raffle off her body.

Like most recent Brazilian films, the production values of Love for Saleare top-notch. I am a big fan of Walter Carvalho and as usual his cinematography perfectly captures the visuals of a hot Brazilian landscape. There are some neat camera techniques here but overall, the story had the air of inevitability that I had found in a handful of other recent Brazilian films dealing with such a topic.

Music as escape from Poverty & Misery:

Once (2006, Ireland, Director John Carney): Rating 7.5/10

This charming Irish films shows two characters who live on the fringes of modern society's economic charts but can easily be found in any European city's core. The guy plays his guitar on street sides hoping to earn some money for his talent while the girl is an immigrant from the Czech Republic who roams the Dublin city core selling red roses.

The smart usage of hand-held cameras give the movie an earthy feel and allows to us to experience these character's bitter sweet life. When things get tough, both the guy and girl find solace in music. The girl provides the inspiration for the guy to finally follow his dream of getting his music recorded.

La Vie en Rose (2007, French co-production, Director Olivier Dahan): Rating 7.5/10

In Once the guy sang on street corners while playing his guitar. In La Vie en Rose, Edith Pilaf (Marion Cotillard in a riveting performance) also stood on street corners to sing but she only relied on her soulful voice -- her powerful voice could stop traffic and lighten any wary heart. The film shows her rise to fame from a background of poverty to her performance at music halls in Paris and New York. The best parts of the film are where we get to listen to her booming voice.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Brazilian Cinema

Spotlight on Brazilian Cinema, part four

Here are the final two films on the Brazilian spotlight:

Quilombo (1984, Director Carlos Diegues): Rating 7.5/10

Diegues' study of slavery in 17th century Brazil would qualify as a cinematic equivalent of literature's "magic realism" -- we get a heavy dose of harsh reality sprinkled with magical elements in the story's retelling. The title refers to the free slave settlements that existed in Brazil, especially Palmares (just outside Recife). These settlements were free to govern themselves but were often the target of other settlements or colonizers who wanted to enslave the people. And there is no better person than Carlos Diegues to shed a light on this slice of Brazilian history. One of the original members of Brazil's Cinema Novo movement, Diegues is not shy to depict the shrewd and hostile political tussles that existed with these quilombo's.

Herzog & Diegues: Werner Herzog's brilliant Cobra Verde may be set in Africa but it starts out in the sugar plantations of Brazil. And there is where Herzog's depictions of Brazilian slavery shares similar scenarios with the opening moments of Quilombo. But the powerful leader of the quilombo, Ganga Zumba, would be no match for the eccentric Francisco Manoel da Silva (Klaus Kinski) in Herzog's film. But then again, which cinematic character can match anything portrayed by Kinski?

Madame Satã (2002, Director Karim Ainouz): Rating 7/10


There is only reality in this Brazilian film which looks at the life of João Francisco dos Santos (or better known as Madame Satã), a transvestite performer who was not afraid to stand up for his rights. The real strength of the film is Lázaro Ramos' fearless & intense performance in bringing to life the dual role of João & Madame Satã. The cinematography is good but that is not a surprize when Walter Carvalho is behind the lens.

The multiple talents of Lázaro Ramos

It is a real treat to watch Lázaro in a film. In just a three year spell, he has played a diverse set of roles where he can equally lust after a woman or a man, can play an honest employee or a seasoned criminal. In Lower City, his eyes easily depicted the intensity of his desire for Alice Braga's character whereas in Madame Satã he plays a character not afraid to tempt men into the bedroom with equal intensity. He can be the innocent everyday man like in The Man Who Copied or can be a criminal within the fiery prison of Carandiru.

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Brazilian Cinema

Spotlight on Brazilian Cinema, part two

Lower City (2005, Director Sérgio Machado, co-writer Karim Ainouz): Rating 7.5/10

I am fast becoming a fan of Karim Ainouz's writing style. Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures was my favourite film of 2005 and even though Behind the Sun(2001) was flawed, it had moments of rich emotion. The trailers for Lower City seemed to make clear what the film was about -- two friends are shown to fall for the same woman, plenty of raw sex and some scenes of robbery and physical violence. And true to the trailers, the film is exactly what it appears. The first sex scene arrives at the 3 minute mark of the film. At the start of the film, we see Karinna (Alice Braga) dressing up and heading downstairs to a local shop. There she asks the shop-keeper if she knows anyone who can give her a ride out of town. Two young men (Deco played by Lázaro Ramos and Naldinho played by Wagner Moura) standing in the corner tell her that they can give her a lift on their boat. While negotiating the price with her, they eye her up and down and say that she can pay the rest by you know what. She understands and a minute or so later, Naldinho is having his way with her on the boat. And right after him, Deco steps up to score. Right from the outset, Karinna is smart enough to understand that she will come in between these childhood friends and that the two will eventually kill each other over her. To her credit, she tries to get away but is always drawn towards them. Very little words are spoken in this duration and none need to be -- the pictures tell it all.

Pixote (1981, Director Hector Babenco): Rating 9/10

Half-way through watching this film, I felt it reminded me of Carandiru, the 2003 gritty Brazilian prison drama film. As it turns out, Babenco directed both these films so the similarity was understandable. In a sense, Carandiru is an extension of the work that Babenco started with Pixote. In this 1981 film, he focuses on the poor Brazilian youth of São Paulo. He shows that how sometimes these kids are grabbed by the police on the slightest pretext and housed in reformatories. All these kids are less 18 years of age and that is the key. Because if the kids are under 18, no matter what crime they commit, they won't be thrown in prison but sent to a reformatory. So certain people abuse this loop hole by getting the children to commit drug trafficking, theft and even murder.

Pixote is not an easy film to watch. It is not afraid to show the disgusting side of crime and poverty that most films often cover-up. While watching this movie, it is easy to understand how some of the kinds will land up in the jails in Carandiru. The main character of Pixote is a 10 year old boy who gradually loses his innocence as the film progresses. This film was made long before the recent Brazilian youth crime films and it predicts the horror that is shown in City of God, Bus 174 and Carandiru.

After two films, onto a book.........

Garrincha, written by Ruy Castro

Plenty of non-soccer fans have heard of Pele but how many have heard of Garrincha? Plenty of myths surround Garrincha and his ability. I often heard he was better than Pele and the limited black and white footage I saw of his goals and moves seemed to confirm that. But it was a truly eye-opening experience to read this fascinating book by Ruy Castro. Castro has done an amazing amount of research for this book and honestly, it is truly one of the best books I have read in a very long time!

The cliched phrase of "truth is sometimes stranger than fiction" seemed to apply to Garrincha. Right from his birth, he defied belief. He was born with two defective legs -- both legs were bent, one outward and the other inward. On top of that, one leg was shorter than the other (by one inch) and he even had a hip problem. Doctors didn't give him much chance to walk, let alone run. But run he did and he became one of the best dribblers the game has known. Unfortunately, that is where the romantic side of his life ends. Everything else about him is so tragic and miserable that you feel no fiction writer could make this stuff up.

-- Garrincha had a weakness for alcohol and woman. He count not resist either and while he was not drunk, he was screwing (or doing both together). In fact, sex was the only exercise he used to keep himself fit. He never went to gym and played the game however he felt it. He is believed to have fathered atleast 14 recorded children with 5 different women.
-- He was naive and simple-minded and other people took advantage of that. He was constantly under-paid by his club and later in life, he was sucked dry by a greedy lawyer who tried to steal any money that Garrincha earned.
-- Throughout his career, friends and people tried to get him back on his feet by creating jobs for him. But the lure of alcohol always was stronger.
-- A man who led Brazil to two World Cup trophies died in a manner one does not associate with such heroes. On the other hand, Pele's fame went from strength to strength. Both were heroes to the world in that 1958 World Cup but Pele went to become a global icon, while Garrincha disappeared into the dust of the earth.
-- By the end of his life, he was depending on organizations and even the Brazilian football federation on keeping him alive and paying his hospital bills.

One can argue that the pattern of Garrincha's destruction is the same followed by other people who found over-night wealth and blew it all away. But Garrincha's case is different. He didn't care for money. And when he played, he didn't want to be a hero and score the most goals. For him dribbling was his only joy. His team-mates often got mad at him for not passing the ball enough, but they didn't realize that for him playing tricks with the ball was the highest form of pleasure.

But no matter how many mistakes he made and how many affairs he had, some people were always ready to forgive him. In fact, people blamed his marriage problems on the other woman who was hated more than Garrincha. Part of the love that people had for him might be attributed to his poor background. Castro does a good job in starting the book at a point when the local natives were tortured and abused by the colonials. The start of the book feels like something out of the Brazil that Werner Herzog showed in Cobra Verde -- plantation owners who exploited the locals.

This book highlights all the cliches and myths one associates with the images of Brazil -- futbol, sex, poverty, politics, corruption, carnival. But more than the cliches, this is a engaging look at the life of a flawed man. Full credit for the wonder that this book is goes to Ruy Castro and the English translator, Andrew Downie.

Full title: Garrincha, the triumph and tragedy of Brazil's forgotten footballing hero