Aquarius (2016) Reviews

• Cancer survivor battles nasty real estate developers in this lugubrious but compelling character study

  Turfseer2017-02-04

  Kleber Mendonça Filho's second feature is set in Recife, Pernambuco, in the northeastern part of Brazil. His protagonist is Clara, a retired music critic, played by Sonia Braga, who became an international star in 1976 with the Brazilian hit "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands." Clara is the remaining occupant of an aging seaside apartment complex named Aquarius. Real estate developers want her out so they can tear the building down and build something big and new. Clara refuses to sell as her roots there are deep—a flashback to 1980 when Clara was young illustrates her deep connection to her home, where she and her now deceased husband along with her three kids attend a birthday party for Clara's beloved aunt Lucia, an activist jailed in the 60s by the repressive regime at the time. The main plot is introduced early on when the developers knock on Clara's door and politely ask her to accept their offer to buy the apartment. Clara will have none of it and they soon adopt an insidious campaign to intimidate her into leaving. Meanwhile Filho begins to draw a portrait of Clara, a determined breast cancer survivor, who enjoys participating in laughter yoga sessions on the beach, hobnobbing with her nephew and his new girlfriend, Julia, and fending off her brother's entreaties to sell the apartment as he argues—much to her chagrin—that her "quality of life" might be affected. Soon Clara is meeting with a group of girlfriends at a dance in a restaurant where some of them hope to meet some men. A retired attorney asks Clara to dance and before you know it, they're making out in his car. But when she tells him about her mastectomy, he backs off and offers to drive her back home. She demurs and takes a taxi home instead (earlier we catch glimpses of Clara taking a shower and her surgically removed breast in full relief—Filho wants us to confront the reality of Clara's situation and not be embarrassed by breast cancer survivors in general—unlike the aforementioned attorney's shameful reaction upon learning of Clara's surgery. The developers' campaign to intimidate Clara begins in earnest when Daniel, a man Clara knew as a boy and who used to live in the building, approaches her outside on the street and bluntly tells her she's being selfish for staying in the apartment. She meets Diego, the son of the owner of the building, and questions him as to why mattresses are being brought into the building and is not given a satisfactory answer to her question. After a trip to the cemetery to visit her husband's grave, Clara receives a visit from her children, including her daughter who accuses her of being "stressed out." Clara reacts defensively by claiming that her daughter went "over her head" in talking with the developers. Her daughter then calls her an idiot and ugly words are exchanged including a reference to Clara leaving the family alone for two years with their father. Clara's son-in-law hands his wife a book by Clara which is dedicated to her children—this reminds the daughter that indeed Clara does love the children, and mother and daughter end the argument, and embrace. A series of events then lead to Clara's ultimate confrontation with the developer. The mattresses turn out to be used in the apartment upstairs to facilitate an orgy—which Clara witnesses briefly when she goes upstairs to investigate all the noise permeating the building. To illustrate her independence, Filho depicts Clara hiring a gigolo with whom she has steamy sex with. She reveals satisfaction with these turn of events to a woman who put her in contact with the handsome stud. This happens at a birthday party for her long-standing housekeeper, a scene that plays out a little too long until we arrive at the film's climax. The developers burn the mattresses in the back of the building, another inappropriate action on their part. Clara has it out with Diego who expresses his determination to get her out of the building for good. Finally, two former workers approach Clara and reveal that the developers have placed termites in the apartment above, in an effort to ruin her apartment, so she'll be forced to leave. Aquarius ends rather abruptly when Clara hires a lawyer and then with her son videotaping, throws piles of wood with the termites on a conference room table in front of the developers at their headquarters. Aquarius is a nice character study featuring a strong performance by its star, Sonia Braga. As the main character is a music critic, the soundtrack features some notable Brazilian romantic pop tunes. The theme comports nicely with the notion that the aging are like fine wine and should not be discarded in the face of indifference by the young. The Achilles Heel of the film is that it proceeds at an incredibly slow pace and could have benefited from much more judicious editing.

• Don't judge this movie by trolling reviews

  massashihosono-12016-05-31

  Aquarius is a movie that tries to catch the audience by showing our almost forgotten resilience, commitment to individual values and beliefs. The main plot is a story about a wealthy lady facing a frequent and "polite" invitation to sell her apartment for a greedy and ruthless real state company who wants to put down her old building. Meanwhile, she not only tries to keep her place, but to buy other units. Movie's director, Kleber Mendonça, is a very skilled storyteller when it comes to expose the most bitter side of Brazilian's contradictory elite society. I've watched all his movies and shorts and I must tell, they are not comfortable. Yet they disclose things that either we don't talk about or we don't clearly see. It's a mind blowing criticism over our cultural trends and social costumes. As for the main actress, Sonia Braga is one of the most iconic actresses in Brazil. She moved to US to live a relationship with Robert Redford, another great actor and director. As years passed by, she did connected with America's movie industry, though she never left her carrier in Brazil entirely. In 2013 Kleber wrote a script that according to Sonia, while reading it, was a "present" from its author. So he invited her and she promptly replied. The result is this movie where, as The Telegraph correctly said, "will make you want to move to Brazil".

• Ignoring all the political controversy surrounding this movie, what remains is a fantastic story.

  marcosleekim-955-1648642016-09-02

  It is sad that a powerful movie like this is contaminated by political ideology from both sides. Although I don't necessarily agree with any of the positions brought forth by the makers of this movie, this is still a fantastic piece of art, a fantastic story about the struggles of a middle-aged woman against not only a very real real estate speculation movement in Brazil, but also against her past, the upper-middle class blame, the old age labels, her family, all directed by probably the greatest living director of Brazil today. From IMDb synopsis, Clara, a 65-year-old upper-middle class mother of 3 children, refuses to sell her apartment, the last still occupied, to a big real estate company, built in the upper class, seaside Boa Viagem Avenue, Recife. Pledging to only leave her place upon her death, her building is probably the last remnant of a not so long ago past. Facing this conflict ahead mostly by herself, she will reflect upon her past and future and give her new strength. Although the story can seem to be a bit clichéd, the movie excels in representing a middle-aged woman in an unique and independent way, something rarely seen in movies, where usually these characters are simply secondary, caricatures. There will be no big reveals and big turns, it is a mostly linear story (quite different from Kleber Mendonça Filho last movie, "O Som ao Redor", also critically acclaimed). But the way the director tells the story is what is so great. With a technique so sharp, he creates tension throughout the whole movie in ordinary situations (his trademark, an influence from John Carpenter), like in the scene where Clara and the real estate manager are simply maneuvering cars in the building's garage. This tension is what carries the whole movie, until the powerful ending. In addition, the greater part of the movie has no actual direct connection to the its apparent central plot. Clara attending parties, talking to the lifesaver, walking with her nephew, having family meeting is what fleshes out her character, telling so much about her personality and her past indirectly, and this is the film's greatest strength. The moment she has with her 3 kids is maybe one of the greatest scenes in Brazilian cinema. Forget all the political ideology. Watch it for what this movie really is, a powerful, fantastic piece of art.

• Meandering and Overlong

  vixian2017-04-10

  As a character study it was excellent ... the social environment and feel of Brazil came though in spades, Sonia Braga was awesome in her focus and power in the role where she painted a picture of a real person with flaws, with strengths and weaknesses and a determination that was admirable. Her relationship with her children was really great as were they ... As a whole though the movie didn't work for me on a number of levels. There were cues along the way that never amounted to anything - for example there was an early shot of a piece of furniture - we see single lingering shots at times but it never becomes part of the story. I never knew where the story was going ... I concentrated because I didn't want to miss any part of the thread but in the end there was so much artefact and detail that didn't really drive the story anywhere. It finally got there and was over in a trice ... given that I had held my concentration for well over two hours it was a let down. You persist for that long and then there is a resolution that still left me hanging a bit. Did the developers get any real comeuppance? Did she have to leave anyway given the circumstances? I found it not only disappointing but also frustrating like someone had been playing a long joke on me - but movie appreciation is such an individual and idiosyncratic thing so see for yourself as your take might be otherwise but this was my experience.

• A good glance into the Brazilian urban everyday life

  tarsosa2016-09-03

  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.