"The Growing Stone" is an adaptation on Albert Camus short story of same name, published in 1958, and along with the main narrative, of which the film
is quite faithful, the location used was the actual one described by Camus in his story, the coastal town of Iguape, of which he may have visited since he
had a brief passage on Brazil in the 1950's. It's a story about two men of different paths and different backgrounds who discover they have plenty in common
on matters of faith and the importance of keeping promises, even if the results may vary from one perspective to another.
D'Arrast (Mathieu Sintomer) is a French engineer who gets requested to the town of Iguape to reconstruct their historical hospital. As he narrates the
story we get the sense he's trying to distance himself from France and wants to get lost in this new smalltown in Brazil. He gets acquainted with the mayor,
a judge, his driver Sócrates, the chief of police (who sees him with suspicious eyes), and a cook (Anderson Oliveira).
The latter, while suspicious in a
way, becomes someone helpful and friendly to the foreigner and he shares about a near death experience he had, and after being saved he wants to pay a promise
on a Christian ceremony that happens on the following day. His promise is to carry a heavy stone over his head for a long distance mile. And the unusual factor
comes that the cook is from an African religion and he also has an event related to it to take place at night, and he's only committed with the other event
because his miraculous salvation came from seeing a huge stone located in the city and that rock is known to keep growing even when people remove some of its
parts. It keeps on growing. Through this exchange is that both men respect each other by talking about the importance of keeping a promise, to which the
French is a little mysterious about what kind of promise he'd make if needed.
If you've read the short story, you know what happens; those who didn't might predict a little about what happens but not the whole thing and why it
happens in such a manner. There's union between both different men, one of those spiritual connections that can happen when the universe allignes and
everything falls in the right place. The essence of Camus is there, with some needed changes as the writing is more about descriptions of a different era,
it's more visual descriptions rather than characters dialogues. It's not easy to translate that to the screen but somehow the filmmakers succeed it. Not
only the idea is preserved as the town is amazingly presented (though in a contemporary manner) with its landscapes and constructions. Iguape is one of those
places you'll wanto to visit after seeing this movie. Kudos to the town for sponsoring the film.
The film's not destine to give out answers, except about the issues related with empathy, respect and commitment to a cause through noble and hard
gestures. One may not believe about a miraculous growing stone, but if you look carefully you'll realize that there is a stone that actually grows. 9/10.
