A dramatic thriller that really keeps its viewers on the edge of the seat and also makes them reflect about the people who live next door, "Os Inquilinos" ("The Tenants") is probably the easiest film of Sérgio Bianchi's career, which always includes a heightened complexity and a load of social/political criticisms related to the reality of Brazilian people ("A Causa Secreta", "Cronicamente Inviável", "Romance"). This one has plenty of those issues, but it feels more focused on the hard drama of everything without finger pointing to the bigger yet underlined problematic faced by the community shown in the story. There are questions, as usual, but this time it feels like Mr. Bianchi has answered
them all (or close to it).
We follow the couple Valter and Iara (Marat Descartes and Ana Carbatti) living in a poor community on the outskirts of São Paulo, raising
their kids and leading an honest life. She's a housewife, he carries loads on a market and studies at night. The apparent peace at home is
disturbed with the arrival of new tenants on the next door neighbor, a poor senior citizen (Umberto Magnani) who clings at that house of which
his ex-wife might want it back. The tenants are loud, unfriendly, unpolite and of violent manners, and each new arrival or new party, disturbance
comes to break the family's peace, and slowly a sense of danger seem to approach everyone around the neighborhood, and Valter might
want to take action.
The family household becomes a prison cell, and the neighborhood also another prison from the violent trio of friends who more bicker
at each other than have an actual cumplicity (but there is). Valter's small escapes comes from work, of which he feels exploited and wants
more rights, and at night school where the education he's getting seems to echo the problematic of violence, through the poems read
by the literature teacher (Cassia Kis) which awakens the students, but it affects Valter as a hopeless reality.
Here's a story that makes us wary about the world around us, especially when it comes to the ones who lives next door, and to make us
pause and question our decisions, if action could be needed or not. It dares such thoughts on viewers, even if you live without a neighbor.
Mr. Bianchi always comes with hard-hitting questions and situations revolving social clashes and the human condition while facing poverty,
injustice and the dangers of such issues, but here one can sense that he might be a little off-depth, with a clean view of favelas and criminals
who are too obvious and too loud with their acts, more like a cinematic kind of poverty rather than the down and dirty view, as things are. Doesn't work completely, but it doesn't remove you from the scenario and the dramatic and tense circumstances of it all.
Besides the thematic and all, "Os Inquilinos" is a triump of acting, with high caliber performances, most notably Marat Descartes as
the leading man with his transformation slowly turning into something dark and mysterious; the cameo by Caio Blat as the angry student;
and Sérgio Guizé playing the menacing/tough leader of the group who moved next door - you can't take his eyes off of him and the character
is not made into the expected cliche, there's always some surprise with him.
Once again, Mr. Bianchi succeeds with another critical urban tale, with plenty of honesty, some dreams and nightmares, but reflecting
the dire reality of a huge portion of São Paulo and its crazed routine. 10/10.
