Aquarius

Aquarius wouldn't have made its way into my watchlist if it wasn't for Letterboxd. One amongst the highest-rated films on the site for the previous year, it's disappointing that it didn't leave much of an impression on me and even though Sônia Braga delivers a fantastic performance, this Brazilian- French drama as a whole is more or less underwhelming.

Aquarius tells the story of a retired music critic who is the last resident of the titular building that happens to have a rich history. The plot follows her life & a chain of events that are set in motion when she refuses to sell her apartment to the construction company which already owns the rest of the old building and intends to replace it with a new one.

Written & directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho, the film opens with a brief prologue that serves no purpose to the plot whatsoever and then narrates its tale in three sections. Plodding for the most part and indulging in moments that play a role in providing a deeper insight into the protagonist's arc, the film makes for a wonderful character study but it could've been so much more.

The sequences that capture the clash between the veteran resident & the company that owns the peripheral surrounding are fascinating but whenever it delves into her own life, it becomes a bit dull. I'm sure there are plenty of political & social undertones beneath its surface but to an outsider like me, it felt trivial to the main plot, and the only aspect that made me sit through it was Sônia Braga's input.

A slow-moving, often-frustrating & mostly unappealing cinema that stays on one level throughout its overlong runtime and manages to get interesting only during the final chapter, Aquarius is finely crafted & nicely shot and paints quite a portrait of the leading character but it isn't what I thought it would be. Maybe I dived into it with wrong expectations or maybe it actually is bland, either way, I'm not its intended audience.

Greetings again from the darkness. If you were an avid movie-goer in the 1970's, you likely fell in love with Sonia Braga while watching Dona and Her Two Husbands (1976) and Kiss of the Spider Woman (1978). Those movies catapulted the Brazilian actress to global stardom, and a long career limited only by some regrettable script choices.

Writer/director Kleber Mendonca Filbo wisely casts Ms. Braga in the lead of his latest, and she delivers what may be her best performance ever … and certainly one of the best by any actress this year. Clara is the lone holdout in a beachfront apartment complex against a corporate developer intent on modernizing the old building in order to maximize profits.

The film is divided into three parts: "Clara's Hair", "Clara's Love", and "Clara's Cancer". The initial segment is set in 1980 when Clara is recovering from cancer treatment and is attending the 70th birthday party for her beloved Aunt Lucia (Thaia Perez). Lucia's flashbacks to her younger days bring a subtle smile to her face, while providing parallels to what we see later with Clara. Some secrets from family are treasured memories, not meant to be shared. As the story moves forward, we grow to admire and respect Clara and join in her defiance of the smirky hotshot developer.

The big company bullying the old lady would be an interesting and predictable story, but here it's secondary to the story of a strong woman – a woman who overcomes cancer, carries on after the death of her husband, fights to keep her home, and generally lives life on her own terms. She maintains her strength and dignity despite outside influences.

A recurring theme throughout is "old vs. new". From the first sequence with the "old" Aunt passing the baton to her younger niece, to the old lady battling the young developer in order to prevent the historic building from being turned into a modern co-op, to the contrast of the vinyl records of Clara's collection to the digital music of the younger generation, to Clara's preference for actual phone calls to texting. It's the classic now versus then argument, and it's summed up by Clara's line to her kids: "When you like it, it's vintage. When you don't, it's old." There are some similarities to Sebastian Lelo's 2013 film Gloria, which featured an exceptional performance from Paulina Garcia, and this one utilizes some terrific "little" scenes … conversations with family and daily life with her housekeeper – all while staying close to a glass of wine, her favorite music, a cozy hammock, and her Barry Lyndon poster. While the ending is a bit disappointing, and Brazilian politics prevented it from being that country's Oscar submission, those don't negatively impact the strength of Sonia Braga's Oscar worthy performance as we rejoice in the strength of an independent woman.

Quiet, precise and profoundly critical, Aquarius is a sharp depiction of an ever changing, ever adapting Brazilian society, increasingly subject to a disproportionate capitalism that is bulldozing over identity, history and sentiment.

Split into three chapters - one of them construed as a prologue - there would not be a better way of introducing who this(ese) character(s) is(are) and setting up what their nature is, what motivates them and what kind of culture, family values and roots they hold throughout. Led by a powerful and heartfelt performance by Sónia Braga that single-handedly carries the film, meticulously embodying all of the character's traits in her continuous struggles with motherhood, disease, change and most importantly time lapse. Her artistic preferences and passions show how a deeply and typically traditional society can still honor and maintain their culture while not being averse to technology, change and evolution.

At the end of the day, Aquarius is an elegant tale of how opinions and values change with time and how easily the current generation might be bent and influenced by money and greed and how that greed can easily stampede over traditionalism. A definite must see.

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 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.