Aquarius (2016)

Just home from seeing Aquarius in a cinema. This is cinema. You must not watch films like this at home. It is has to have a theatrical setting because it is a film designed to make you think. It is long, overlong. I appreciated the pace at first, family parties, friends gossiping at a dance, etc. I must admit though that towards the last third of the movie I was thinking, "Get on with it!". I know I got irritated but I also know these scenes will come back to me over the next few days as I try to get my head around why the director did not make an edit. What was that scene meant to convey? The film makes comments about Brazil. They do not flatter the country. In long scenes and conversations someone sticks in a comment about the nature of society in Brazil. The comment is made and the conversation moves on. Sonia Braga is fantastic in this. In a really long film she is the centre of every scene. I found the woman she played not someone I could like, but someone I could admire for her stubbornness. She admits, "I am a woman and a child!" I think the overriding feeling I have is that it's just too long!

Fmovies: We waited with anticipation to watch this much "acclaimed" movie, but both my wife and I could not take it with the extra long takes, close ups, playing music bits, with nothing to add to the story.

Extremely and unnecessarily long, would have been much better told in 1:20 than 2:25hs.

I did not react to Aquarius session end, I left the movie anaesthetized, not knowing what to think. Complex films like this do not involve value judgments. As the scenes were sat in memory (pictures, lines, track, details), things became more Clear. Clara (Clear, in Portuguese), by the way, is the name of the character of Sonia Braga, an old woman, a retired music critic, who decides to fight against a conglomerate of construction, preventing the building is demolished. With this wisp of plot, the young and talented director Kleber Mendonça, speaks of memory, time, social, loss, resistance, prejudice, ethics, preservation ... It's such a rich work that would need to be watched more times for an accurate and faithful analysis. There are moments of delicacy that made me breath away. The first part of the film, Clara's hair is bright. Unable to hold back tears. Aquarius is authorial film, which does not follow formulas, is not related to cinematographic conventions, is not entertainment. It was done to annoy, make the viewer to think and question. Do not expect the impact of City of God, or the catharsis of Central Station, Aquarius has another footprint.

Aquarius fmovies. This is a very interesting film. I didn't really know anything about it and I found its narrative structure and plot pretty minimalist but still very impactful for its characters and for its themes. There seems to be a lot of controversy surrounding the film and its nonselection as the Best Foreign Language Film by its country into the Oscar category. I do hope that all of that controversy doesn't end up hurting the film in terms of viewership. The biggest reason to see this is probably Sonia Braga's performance. On the surface it doesn't really look like a particularly demanding or challenging role, but to say that would also be to discount and diminish the power on the things she does throughout. More than anything, it's an intriguing performance and the film is definitely recommended.

Aquarius certainly deserves all the raves it's been getting. It's a well- rounded film with perfect acting from all actors especially Sonia Braga. I love her character in the film, Clara, her clout and courage, and the way Kleber Mendonça Filho constructed the film. I was deeply touched from beginning to end. Don't be misled by all the bad reviews made by resentful and bigoted ringt-wing Brazilians who didn't even see the film. The film has a political undertone but overall it's about a woman fighting for herself and her rights. A must-see for anyone who believes in justice, equality and the value of human life over the power of greed and money. Thank you Mr. Kleber Mendonça for helping us Brazilians restore our dignity through this beautiful piece of art.

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.