João Mário Grilo’s documentary uses letters exchanged between Hungarian Arpad and Portuguese Maria Helena over 55 years
Amoroso by John Ford – since he saw a retrospective of his films at the Cinemateca Portuguesa as a young man -, by Manoel de Oliveira and Max Ophuls, João Mário Grilo signs the other cracker already in theaters. intimate writing came to add to the admirable lost illusions, which Xavier Giannoli adapted from Balzac’s novel. Another novel – epistolary. The story of the painters Maria Helena Vieira da Silva and Arpad Szenes (she, Portuguese, he, Hungarian), is reconstituted through the correspondence between them.
A beautiful story of resilience woven into the 55 years of their relationship, through the difficult years of World War II, and Arpad was Jewish. From Paris to Rio, often passing through, affectionately called Bicho and Bichinho, they wove a sort of utopia, made of love and art.
“I never wanted to make a traditional documentary, but to weave a story that made the viewer want to know more about these two admirable people. We are living in new dark times. My film could be an invitation for the public to build their own utopia. . ” intimate writing debuted earlier this month, on the 2nd, in Portugal. Seven rooms around the country, which seem like nothing, but represent a lot given the demanding and authorial profile of the film.
For comparison, Tom Cruise, Top Gun – Nonconformist, has entered more than a thousand theaters and has gained 2 million viewers in Brazil in ten days. In Portugal there are 147 rooms. It is a smaller but very prestigious market. It is common, in the junks to which Brazil has limited or no access, to find several Portuguese journalists at the ‘talent’ interview tables.
In an interview with Zoom, Grilo states that, at the origin of the project, there is the exhibition entitled Escrita Intima – como seu filme -, from 2014, accompanied by a book with the correspondence exchanged by the artists between 1932 and 1961 Explains his passion for movie files. He weaves a sensitive metaphor. “It is sleep, the cinema that sleeps and it is possible to wake up”. The film of him begins with images of Vieira and Arpad already elderly, him using a cane. He belongs to But Femme calls animalby José Álvaro Morais, from 1978, to which intimate writing is dedicated. Following are the images of a cemetery, the tombstone with the names of the two. “It’s my ghost story,” defines Grilo.
Master of Portuguese cinema, Manoel de Oliveira died in 2015 at the age of 106. In 1956 and 1965 he made short films such as The painter and the city And The paintings of my brother Giulio, which inspired Grilo, not only for visual art, but for the word that has always been at the center of the great author’s cinema. The letter format can evoke a film that has become a cult – I’ve never seen that you’ve always loved yourselfby David Jones, 1987, with Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins, but the director prefers to cite a romantic masterpiece by Max Ophüls, Letter from a stranger1948, with Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdan.
They are references and, in terms of cinema – of cinephilia – of the most cultured. Grilo does not conclude the interview without mentioning the contribution of Caio and Fabiano Gullane as co-producers. “They were more than partners, they were friends. They love cinema and authors, they respect formats”.
Exactly ten years have passed since Natara Ney discovered the letters that gave her long origin I hope you find yourself and that you are well. and the presentation of the film at the Festival de Brasília, at the end of 2020. The feature film received nothing. Everything? The affection of the public replaced the prize that the jury did not award him. At the premiere of the film at the Cine Bijou, in Sao Paulo, a couple hugged the director at the end of the session. Excited, he just repeated: “Thank you, thank you very much!”
It’s a small film, in size, by an equally small distributor, Embaúba. The affection is immense. Natara was in a very special moment in her life. The north-eastern black director had emigrated to Rio. It has become a respected car manufacturer.
A love story was over. He was unfounded, aimless. “I was in desperate need to talk about love, even to make up for my lack.” It was then that he found and bought, at a fair that took place under Perimetral, in Rio, a deck with 180 cards.
As he read them, his heart warmed. He decided to go after Lucia and Oswaldo, who had written between 1952 and 1953, to return them. “There was a risk that these people would not be found, or that they would die.” Natara moved on. Lucia lived in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul; Oswaldo, in Rio de Janeiro. You have decided to document – film – the process. That’s how it all started.
He submitted the project to a public notice in Rio for short films, but the material produced a feature film. Natara submitted the film to another public notice – for completion – in Pernambuco.
Natara’s film is proof that cinema doesn’t need big themes, it doesn’t even need stories. the one of I hope you find yourself was built in the process. Natara went knocking from door to door. She traveled to the heart of Brazil, she found her characters … Watch the spoiler!
One of the charms of the film, experienced by the journalist, was surrendering to the flow of images – and words – without knowing anything about the outcome.
There is, in the essence of this film, a kind of anachronism. Who still writes love letters and letters, on top of that? In the age of the mobile phone, of WhatsApp, what the films of Natara and João Mário Grilo propose is a kind of journey. Over time, in feelings.
The question he does not want to keep quiet: Was Natara cured of her love pain? “Sometimes, all we need to do is put an end to things, to start a new paragraph.” She is very happy with her new paragraph of hers.
Source: Terra
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
