水瓶座

Brazilian film critic turned filmmakerKleber Mendonça Filho's second feature AQUARIUM, after his well-acclaimed debut NEIGHBORING SOUNDS (2012), has already received Cannes main competition treatment, which could be boosted by the consequential involvement of one of Brazilian cinema's living legends, Sonia Braga, who dauntlessly takes its central role of Clara, a retired music critic and refuses to move out of the film's titular building in Recife even if she is the only resident remains.

The film's vintage prologue takes us back to 1980, we are first introduced to a young Clara (Coleen), celebrates both her victory over cancer (later a briefing scene will inform us it is breast cancer) and her aunt's (a sprightly silver-haired Perez) 70th birthday, who reminisces of her wild youth (a carnal liberation in particular) when she clocks to an inconspicuous cabinet, which will become a mnemonic to trigger Clara down to her own memory lane 35 years later.

In the present time, Clara has outlived her husband for 17 years (life has its unpredictable quirks, who could image a seemingly healthier husband would be gone so soon) and now lives alone, she takes the leisurely pace to continue her daily life, as an independent, mature and loving woman: schmoozing with the lifeguard (Santos) on the beach where she routinely swims; enjoying a dancing night with her girlfriends and having no qualms to engage in a spur-of-the-moment making-out with a widower, who politely recedes to decency when he is aware of her physical condition (how shallow a man could be?). And obviously she has become much closer to her nephew Tomas (Queiroz) than her three adult offspring (a married son, a divorced daughter and a gay son), especially her relationship with her daughter Ana Paula (Jinkings) is strained, because of the status quo: the Aquarius building, erected in the 40s, is acquired by a construction company for a complete reconstruction except for Clara's apartment, and Ana Paula doesn't understand the reason why Clare won't sell it.

So what is the reason? Clare cannot be bought off by money because as she claims that she has 5 apartments under her name, therefore she has no financial exigency to exchange her favorite property into cash, which marks her a different case from the usual hungry-for-pecuniary-gain mass. Aquarius adumbrates her fondness, nostalgia and affections of her long winded past, all the happenings (like the B-day party in the prologue) comprising her entire life, in her sense, they live and die with the building itself. There is no denying it is a somewhat selfish reason to sabotage a project might be beneficial to assuage the local housing problem.ButMendonça Filhois trenchant and adamant to exercise the disproof, a final startling revelation will jolt Clara into the self-righteous action of hauling the evidence right in front of these corporate crooks. This is a tub-thumping censure to a society festered with sleaze and corruption, and utterly relatable in most corners of our world.

What hits the unusual mark of extraordinary is the filmmakers' impeccable tact and devotion of playing out an unbiased portrait ofa woman of certain age who, more often than not isn't even be considered to assume the cynosure of a movie, andMendonça Filho welcomes her with the full treatment including the often dismissed libidinous department, when you find out there is a raucous orgy organized in the empty apartment above yours, what is the best rebuttal other than calling an escort to quench that aroused thirst?

It goes without saying Ms. Braga's towering performance is of tectonic import to the success of the film, so much composedly immersed herself in the character, she takes Clara's prosaic daily life in stride, and not for one second, slackens her dignified defiance or renders it patronizing or haughty (which would very likely occur in lesser hands), she holds court whether there is a tacit awkwardness in her bungled sex-in-the-car diversion, or a whiff of disappointment toward her self-serving daughter, not to mention when she lets rip with a tirade in front of Diego (a smugly educated Carrão, admirably fending off Braga's all-out verbal offensive), the young representative of the company, that sequence alone can give 2016 Best Actress hopefuls a run for their money!

AQUARIUS is ultimately a rapier-like social critique welded with an endearingly patient character study, manufactured with deliberation, consideration and integrity, a transcendent sophomore piece presages an auteur in the making. On a less rigorous note, it is a cautionary tale exhorting us not to mess with a refusenik who has a hammock in her apartment, which means that she has both strength and means to stick it to the end.

个人碎碎念

有些地方，可以是一个凝固的场景，保存了一些遥远记忆；可以是个夜晚永远亮着灯的书房，还有灯下痛苦写作交稿的人；可以是满室阳光绿植的光影，还可以是清晨六点被砸门叫醒送早餐的恼怒回忆，离开这间居所，到哪里心里都是空空的。是的啊，我此刻想起的就是西一巷。 电影看完就想哭泣。我已经在这个世界步履不停地走了很久，我也知道未来还要去攀登更高的山峰，去做更好的人。可是啊，西一巷的那些时光始终在我心底。如果我也写一本《最美好的回忆》，萨冈赌赢了钱去买了房子，我是在那里度过了纯粹的时光。

克拉拉，大家稱她為釘子戶，但是可能叫她做「自我」的釘子戶會更加合適。 城市在分崩離析，但是有一些地方，仍會發生一些讓你覺得身處夢境的真實。 怎麼說呢，這就像是這部電影很多場景給人的感受。 一棟建築在夜里披上了一曾白紗，像是曼妙的少女若隱若現。

克拉拉在聚會后的夜裡，獨自歸家，下車后在路邊看到這一幕，像是瞥到自己的往昔。 一輛高聲放著音樂的車在此時開過，讓人想起影片開頭克拉拉和夥伴開車到海灘，在車內放著音樂一起搖擺。 看見身披白紗的曼妙建築，對城市的常規來講就像是在做夢。但是那一層薄紗，是真實存在的。可能是這些樓里搬空的寢居里被遺棄的簾布，在第二天天明時，攤在地上被人收走。 那又怎樣呢。克拉拉請人將自己住的建築外表漆成了白色。

這是一個有點「自我」的故事，所以克拉拉也並不是一個普遍的討喜角色。她離群索居，但她只是努力地在維繫自己的生活如常。 第一部分，克拉拉的頭髮，就是她的抗爭。和癌症的，和時間的。因為治療，她的短髮洋溢著生命的青春；隨著時光飛逝，她的頭髮漸長，除了時間飛逝，她的自我更加深刻。 克拉拉的愛呢，就是她的生活日常。她有音樂，有充滿回憶的櫃子，還有自己的朋友親人。 克拉拉的癌症呢，自然就成了她生活中遇到的那些重要的難題。 就像是建築商從其他地方帶來的白蟻要腐蝕掉建築，造成危房的情況。生活里遭遇的問題，就像是一個人的自我瓦解。一個問題與一個問題的累積，便可以造成巨大的縫隙。 克拉拉在影片里有兩次情緒的爆發。 一次是在和建築商對峙的時候，年輕的商人似要離間克拉拉與親人，用逼遷干擾她的自我。這其實也是兩個精英人士的對話，是當地文化的衝突。 建築商知道自己的工人在海灘上燃燒床墊嗎？他的標榜是虛偽嗎？克拉拉生氣，但無可奈何。 還有一次是結尾的時候，手撕建築商。年長的建築商看到克拉拉帶來的照片隨即變得氣急敗壞，針鋒相對每一個要說話或動作的人。 克拉拉呢，她將被白蟻侵蝕掉地木材一根根拍斷在桌上。鏡頭特寫著這些白蟻，我竟然覺得有一絲暢快地美。

問題能被看到，就變得有底氣，畢竟你知道癥結所在。一無所知地時候，便是那白蟻爬過的瘙癢不適。 就像克拉拉做了一個噩夢。以前的保姆坐在她的床邊光明正大地拿走屬於她的珠寶，還告訴她，她的胸口在淌血。 突然想起的扒竊的保姆是克拉拉的問題，但回憶起那個人的名字就還好。 一直以來手術切掉的胸，也是克拉拉的問題，她的欲求會因此受阻，但是她失落並不是因為這病症。 年邁的鰥夫因此回絕她的欲求，她回憶往昔因為那個時候她和病魔抗爭但是真實，因為有人在愛她。而後那個年輕的牛郎卻能給她真實的愛慾，親吻她的另一半胸，因為他看到知道存在過的問題，但是也接受留下的真實美。 除了探討城市、階層、社會人員的關係等等，影片給我留下印象深刻的就是這種自我的真實。 或許有人覺得克拉拉的生活平淡無趣。我會記得侄兒的女朋友分享自己喜歡的音樂時候，她眼裡閃著的淚花。有著往昔與現在的幸福感。 我也會記得克拉拉在海灘去游泳，救生員告訴她水快淹到腰了快回岸，她回應好，但是還是去撲了一撲那所謂的危險浪花。