Wilson Barros short film "Disaster Movie" explores the notion of a chaotic and crazed city where almost nothing gets done thanks to the disorder
in which people and circumstances affect each other. São Paulo is this city, a modern metropolis filled with people, cars, noise, pollution and other
distractions that can turn people crazy with its constant changes.
This hyperlink film doesn't have much of a story and neither connects all the characters involved; some minor stories are good to follow, others
were just dull. I was mostly interested in the segment involving the lost passenger (Jean-Claude Bernardet) who keeps insisting to the taxi driver
that they're on the wrong way to their destination, blaming the driver for riding in circles since he's not following the passenger's instructions on
the map. When the story returns to them and the man leaves the cab, a female passenger almost gets in the car but gets stopped by the man who returns
to the vehicle, shouting a word of advice.
When he finally reaches his destination, he has a confusing exchange with another person at the same time a
couple is involved in another situation that suddenly stops when the woman shoots her partner - to which no one around them cares. Things move as if the
world is alright. That's the true essence of the movie, which presents several other characters trying to get things done before the fateful 6 PM kicks in -
the movie doesn't give an explanation as to what's gonna happen at that time but in the majority of cities around here in São Paulo, 6 PM is rush hour at
its peak with most people exiting their work and rushing through traffic jams or stuck on buses and on the subway.
It's a nice film, well-humored despite the chaos, with plenty of moments of abusrd that feel real and we as audience can connect with some of
the situations presented. With a proper storyline and less characters this would be amazing. Barros captured the spirit and the essence of this major city
and turned into a chaos of near epic proportions. 6/10.
