By Roger Costa
NARCISSUS OFF DUTY
Documentarians Ricardo Calil and Renato Terra’s one-man show-stopper film deeply capture emotionally charged and wounded testimonies by one of this century’s most prestigious Latin American singers and songwriters, Brazilian polemic star Caetano Veloso. Known all over the world as one of Brazil’s top artists, Veloso has always been in the spotlight due to his political inclinations and manifestations, mostly of them he turned into unforgettable, touching and culturally-inclusive songs. As he sits down, tranquil and serene in a sunny day, the directors interview him about his exile years during the Dictatorial regime, extracting the reality of the burden sufffered by him in the hands of the military. It also paints a haunting and horrifying portrait of autoritarian political abuse, as well as the courage and determination of a man engaged in the fight for his art, his freedom and his nation. Produced by Walter Salles and Paula Lavigne, it is an essential and revelatory piece of art verite.
(Presented by Cinema Tropical and Brasil Summerfest. Screens at Museum of Moving Image on Sunday, July 23 at 5:30pm).
RETURN TO DUST
Patient and beautifully observed, Li Ruijun’s Golden Bear Nominee was one of the rare arthouse films to become a smash hit at the Chinese box-office. Due to its political commentary and to make room for blockbusters, the film was mysteriously banned from the country, after hitting the Number 1 chart. Whatever happened there, now Western audiences will get a chance to discover this lyrical gem, which follows the journey of two outcast adults who got into an arranged married and now must learn how to love and live with each other. But their hardest task though is to find a right place to settle, as they decline the option to move to the big city. Sensitive, gorgeously shot and filled with a lovely sense of naturalism, Ruijun conceived a masterclass in antipolitical narrative.
(Film Movement. Opens Friday, July 21 at BAM in Brooklyn, followed by other cities. Go to https://filmmovement.com/return-to-dust for details and full schedule).
AMANDA
Very provocative, hilarious and complex, writer-director Carolina Cavalli’s promissing debut is a marvelous and satirical reflection on this generation’s afflictions, confusions, perspectives, and mostly, the lack of it. Actress Benedetta Porcaroli kills it in the title role, as a “I-don’t-know-what-to-do-with-my-life” 24-year-old spoiled woman still living under her family wings, a wealthy family running a pharmaceutical business. After spending years in Paris, she returns to Italy, and desperately seeks for new friends and a boyfriend. Failing to accomplish her goals, she is assigned to become a “motivational force” to a girl who insists to be locked into her room. They form a special bond, despite their many differences, while Amanda cannot show much affection for anyone, except for a horse she sorts of adopts it. Funny, inspirational and timely, Cavalli is a filmmaker to watch, while Porcaroli only confirms her enigmatic, and irresistible, screen presence.
(Oscilloscope. Now Playing at IFC Center NYC and other cities).
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