"The Sound of the House" discusses community security and gang issues. This film also won the controversial topic of the struggle between nail households and real estate developers. When it was released in Cannes last year, the film creators pulled banners and shouted slogans in front of the cinema to attract attention. Obviously, this is not a political film, but it has the weight of questioning reality and a sharp entry point.
The film is divided into three paragraphs by the heroine's "hair", "love" and "cancer", and it takes only an hour to really usher in the object of sharp criticism. On the surface, the spear seems to point to the greedy and despicable behavior of Brazilian real estate developers. After carefully scrutinizing the dialogue between the heroine and reporters, children and representatives of real estate developers, we can find that this seems to be a conflict between traditional culture and new generation thinking. During the visit, the young reporter kept asking the heroine about the difference between vinyl and MP3, forcing the heroine to accept new media. When she had a conflict with her children, she learned that her children and real estate developers had the same ideas, so she brought up the "retro" and "outdated" statements about the old house. In the most violent confrontation with the young real estate representative, the heroine's disdain for American business culture was even more evident.
The director did not lean too much towards the heroine when he presented two opposing viewpoints. In fact, in the later scene we can clearly see her playing classical music with her mobile phone connected to a record player for her grandchildren to listen to. This kind of treatment implies that the heroine is not a traditional vindicator who refuses new things, on the contrary, she maintains an open mind as always. This method makes the heroine's character appear three-dimensional and complex, and more realistic.
The title "Aquarius" at first made me mistakenly think it was the nickname of the heroine, but it was actually the house where she lived. The director seems to be very fond of photographing buildings. In his debut film, his camera lens travels ghostly and freely in the community of Brazilian middle-class people. The sounds of various sources render an extremely strange and depressing atmosphere, and the voiceover creates a vast and expansive atmosphere. imagination space. And this new work is still indispensable to this author's label, but the vast community has been reduced to a house and a building where a woman lives. The movement of the camera is more complex and precise, not only showing the whole pattern of the building "Aquarius" in the minds of the audience as a coherent "impression" (the location of the aisle at the front door of the building and the location of the rear garage), but also the repeated scenes of the heroine's home. It reveals how the home has changed over the years, and the location of the furniture (windowsill chest of drawers hammock) also reflects the change in her heart.
The frequently-appearing zoom lens is also the director’s favorite technique. On the one hand, it can make the observation point in a complex environment simple and clear in a very short period of time, and it can also make the emotional changes of the characters more prominent for the audience to truly feel. This seems to be in line with South Korean director Hong Sang-soo. The use of music is also quite prominent in this film. It not only explains the background and changes of the times spanning decades, but also accurately captures the heroine's psychology in the most subtle scenes, like a picture of memories. Moreover, the selected songs take away the strong Brazilian flavor, and friends who like Brazilian pop music will definitely enjoy their ears.
Of course, the most successful film is the Brazilian national treasure actress Sonia Braga. In the film, she superbly portrays the image of an independent woman who is experienced, open-minded, daring and fighting for her own interests. This woman has experienced emotional setbacks (the bereavement of her husband), physical setbacks (breast cancer cut off), and real-life setbacks (the real estate developer tried to force her out), but she still maintains an unyielding attitude. From this point of view, this is both an author's film that declares war on the harsh reality of Brazil today, and an important work that celebrates the independent women of Brazil today. Although it did not win an award at last year's Cannes, its bright and brave attitude will inevitably leave a rare mark on today's film industry.
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