Aquarius

press release:

Brazil, France | 2016 | DCP | 142 min. | Portuguese with English subtitles

Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho

Cast: Sonia Braga, Maeve Jinkings, Irandhir Santos

The great Braga stars as Clara, a retired music critic who is the last tenant remaining in her Recife apartment complex.  Her refusal to accept a buyout from condo developers results in a standoff that exposes Brazil’s endemic corporate corruption, while reveling in its cultural artifacts.  Mendonça Filho’s moving critique of contemporary Brazilian life has sparked numerous controversies at home, and was named one of the top ten films of 2016 by the New York Times and Cahiers du Cinema.  “A sensuous memory piece about the meanings we invest in places, objects, and music; and a lovingly tailored vehicle for the ever luminous Braga” (Dennis Lim, Artforum).

Three from LACIS: In February and March our annual series co-sponsored by the UW’s department of Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies will represent all three regions with two great new movies and a restoration of an established masterpiece. From Brazil, the luminous Sonia Braga stars in the controversial Aquarius. Portugal’s emerging master (and LACIS series veteran) João Pedro Rodrigues has returned with the highly regarded The Ornithologist. The series ends with a new 4K restoration of Cuban director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s much-heralded 1968 classic Memories of Underdevelopment. Special thanks to our colleagues at UW LACIS: Sarah Ripp, Alberto Vargas, Sarah Wells.

All Cinematheque screenings are free and open to the public.