Movie Review: A visionary cinematic architect and his preciously firm stone in “AQUARIUS”

By Roger Costa

Brazilian director Kleber Mendonca Filho conceives films with the hands of a highly stylish architect. And here, in his second feature film, his strongest stone is two-time Golden Globe nominee Sonia Braga, playing Clara, her grand return to the big screen. Kleber had gained attention and praises for his unique cinematic style with his debut, “Neighboring Sounds” a few years ago; he creates contemporary analysis on social conflicts, depicting the anxieties of an urbanized area, dealing with danger, financial divisions, unbalanced emotions and impulses.

Kleber introduces the main topic of “Aquarius” bringing the audience to a delightful family party reunion taking place inside Clara’s apartment, the Recife’s ocean-front building that takes the title name. Using astonishingly crafted angles to present the structures of the building, and the people inhabiting it, Kleber grabs the audience’s interest with no hesitation confirming his talent as a master of the storytelling. The first sequence is set in 1980, where Clara is surrounded by the warmth of family members, celebrating a birthday, as well as her victory as a cancer survivor. The camera follows her walking through the building, with such dedication to every wall, every soul living in it. Over 30 years later, Clara now is a widow, literally living alone in the building, a determined woman, enjoying the pleasures of growing old, with the companionship of her maid and the life guards on the beach. But Clara isn’t at peace at all: as she is the only tenant living in the property, the new constructors are directly fighting her with millionaire proposals for her eviction. Determined not to leave the place full of memories, she will firmly fight to keep it, as it is the most important thing in her life: as she’s now alone, every object, every vinyl, every piece of the environment is connected to her with so much passion and nostalgia, things that have replaced people.

Sonia Braga gives a powerful, enigmatic and tremendously remarkable performance, vividly embodying and transcending the emotions of loneliness, integrity, perception and kindness. Her strength is admirable, a tour-de-force that should put her as a front leader for the Best Actress Oscar race. She certainly conceived one of those great women, we can never forget.

Kleber explores every detail of her character, allowing her to create a mysterious, fascinating and lovable performance, presenting the audience with an intense study of a female character, precisely depicting important topics as it analysis her relationship with her children, her maid, the lifeguards on the beach, the men whom she eventually attempt to date, her friends who share feminine insights and the greedy constructors. He also makes a lovely portrait of ordinary situations in his hometown Recife, the lifestyle and infrastructure, the joy and the beach. Clara is pretty much all the time on screen, creating an aspect of familiarity with the audience, carrying with her a sort of an anxiety that needs comfort, as well as her solitude and her contemplation for life itself. Undoubtedly a well-crafted vehicle that enlightens the talents of Kleber, probably Brazil’s most important filmmaker at this point, and Sonia Braga as a respectful first class actress, as well as cinematographers Pedro Sotero and Fabricio Tadeu, “AQUARIUS” is a social statement on the issues of urbanization, social divisions and broken relationships. It is also a showcase for the country’s beloved popular music, as Clara’s vinyl player becomes an important element of unifying the past and the present, as well as gathering people. Despite the unnecessary graphic, semi-explicit sex scenes that makes me wonder, whether it was a request of Globo Filmes (as they can’t show it on national TV, they could use it on the big screen) or perhaps the director’s or producers’ attempt to please modern viewers (or perverts) at Cannes and other “intellectual” Festivals, and the long, almost 2 1/2 hours of narrative, as well as the negative depiction of older women desperately engaged in a gigolo relationship, “AQUARIUS” is utterly satisfying, visually inventive and seductively narrated. This mesmerizing portrait of a woman standing firmly for her rights and her patrimony, belongs completely to the craft hands of an architect of urban conflicts and his essential tool of construction: the courageous performance of a lifetime.

AQUARIUS (A Vitograph Films Release. Opens October 13th at Angelika Film Center and Paris Theater, NYC)