Onscreen depictions of Brazilian life are often caught up in one of two clichés: the exotic, like the Palme d’Or winning “Black Orpheus,” and grim representations of poverty and crime, best exemplified by “City of God” and “Elite Squad.” There is a third image of Brazilian cinema reaching out to arthouse audiences, however, one that is steeped in humanity—think of Kleber Mendonça Filho’s profoundly moving “Aquarius” with an elder Sonia Braga raging against an underhanded real-estate company.
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The latest effort by Karim Aïnouz, “The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão,” is a film made in a similar mold, as it tells the intimate story of two women resisting the roles prescribed to them by the social norms of the 1950s Brazil. A deserving recipient of the Prix Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, ‘Invisible Life’ continues its festival run with a stop at Montreal’s Festival du Nouveau Cinéma. In his return to narrative filmmaking, Aïnouz has crafted a compelling, decorative melodrama.
Eurídice (Carol Duarte) and Guida Gusmão (Julia Stockler) are dreamers constrained by their immediate reality as young women in ‘50s Rio de Janeiro. When Guida follows her heart and travels to Greece with a handsome sailor, her sibling is left at the mercy of an arranged marriage. The cost of this betrothal—and Guida’s passion—is Eurídice’s ambition of attending a prestigious music school in Austria. As the years drag on, fate conspires to keep the sisters apart, each woman navigating the cruel demands of a patriarchal society as best they know how.
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Eurídice doesn’t confront her arranged marriage and subsequent role as a mother with unsustainable fury or catatonic resignation, instead of negotiating each beat with uncommon savvy. The consummation of her union to middle-class Antenor (Gregório Duvivier) is a dynamic standout that runs the tonal gamut from humorous to uncomfortable, a reluctant meeting of flesh that is genuine in its fumbling plainness. Duarte is a highlight in the title role, her vibrant performance inflected with humor and warmth that keeps the proceedings from being overly suffocating.
There is also a touching thread of motherhood running through ‘Invisible Life.’ Separated from her family, Guida finds solace in the maternal warmth of Filomena (Bárbara Santos). Through this relationship, the Gusmão sister discovers a model for motherhood herself, groomed to assume Filo’s role in an unexpected community. Meanwhile, Eurídice’s relationship with her birth mother is strained by a dark secret. In no small coincidence, both maternal fixtures become afflicted with cancer.
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Comparable to the classic “In the Mood for Love,” ‘Invisible Life’ is a transporting story of inner lives struggling to express themselves in a society that is as visually lush as it is rigid. French cinematographer Hélène Louvart (“Beach Rats,” “Happy as Lazzaro”) proves to be an ace in the hole behind the camera on ‘Invisible Life,’ rendering the digital compositions both immediately naturalistic and immaculate composed. The darkness of the inky nighttime scenes threatens to swallow up the image, only to be warded off by the neon reds and greens of the urban nightlife.
Much of the story unfolds in key domestic spaces: first, the familial home of Eurídice and Guida and then, as a sharp contrast, the protagonist’s middle-class apartment and Filo’s earthen, open-air dwelling. Interiors are a riot of patterns and saturated colors. Defined by its intoxicating production and costume design, Guida is a particular standout as she is forced to wear multiple hats. Like a chameleon, she switches imperceptibly from manual labor coveralls to stunning patterned dress. If one’s station in life could be circumvented by masquerade, Guida would be the commensurate social climber.
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Clocking an intimidating 140 minutes, “The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão” never drags. A melodrama at heart, the film’s time-warp conclusion aims to hit the heart like a sledgehammer yet fails to stir in the way that the film’s more delicate passages accomplish. The opening shots of the film and other interspersed poetic passages depict our heroines in the lush Brazilian rain forests. Intentionally or not, it is yet another dimension of loss—a reminder of the ongoing catastrophic damage to the Amazon—in a movie that’s already spilling over with it. [B-]
Brazil’s entry in the Best International Feature Film category for the Oscars next year, “The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão,” will be released stateside by Amazon Studios at an undetermined date.