The film follows a man living in the Fontainhas shantytowns near Lisbon, Portugal as he deals with the fact that the shantytowns are almost extinct as he struggles to find a new home after his wife had left him. It is a film that plays into a man dealing with his surroundings but also meeting these neighbors whom he refers to as his children as they deal with their new lives including Vanda Duarte who has ended her heroin addiction though she is on methadone and trying to raise her own child Beatriz. While there isn’t much of a narrative in the film as it mixes elements of fiction and documentary, Pedro Costa does showcase a world that is almost gone but also where many of the inhabitants of Fontainhas have gone to where its protagonist Ventura is trying to get a home there but not just for himself but also for other neighbors. Even as he deals with the fact that he’s living on the outskirts with a friend as well as coping with health issues and the deaths of those he knew in Fontainhas.
Costa’s direction definitely aims for a minimalist approach as it is shot on digital video cameras with largely static wide-medium shots in a 1:33:1 aspect ratio where there are some close-ups but the camera never moves. It is a similar approach that Costa did with his previous film of his Fontainhas trilogy yet there is a more vibrancy to the look of the film with its usage of available light as Costa shoots the film with co-cinematographer Leondardo Simoes. Costa would keep this minimalist approach with shots ranging from a few minutes to capture everything that is happening with Vanda talking to Ventura in her own room as it’s shot at the corner of a room where both of them are on Vanda’s bed watching TV while Vanda’s young daughter Beatriz is playing with a toy and dancing to music. There are also moments set in the night where Costa and Simoes shoot on available light as there is an atmosphere to the way things are presented as the cameras that Costa and Simoes have are more high-definition that removes some of the crude aspects from Costa’s previous film from the trilogy.
Costa’s approach to shooting for long takes does give the film’s pacing a somewhat sluggish feel but it doesn’t meander in order to showcase Ventura throughout the entirety of the film as he eats with Vanda’s husband or visiting his daughter as they ponder the whereabouts of his wife and son whom they both believe is alive. Costa also play into this sense of loss late into the film with some long, unbroken takes such as Ventura, Vanda, and her husband eating as they lament over those who didn’t survive where music is being played in another room loudly as it plays into the natural approach to sound due to the sound work of Olivier Blanc, Vasco Pedroso, and Jean-Pierre Laforce. Editor Pedro Marques helps maintain this approach to shots that last long while knowing when to and to not cut during a key moment such as Ventura visiting an old friend whose leg injury still pains him after all of these years. It has these moments that doesn’t just play to the social politics of what Ventura and his neighbors went through but also the fact that despite being in a new home. They still have struggles that keep them away from the conventions of modern-day society as they’re still seen as outsiders.
The film’s cast that largely consists of non-actors as it features appearances from Vanda’s infant daughter Beatriz as well as Alexandre “Xana” Silva as a mysterious figure in Ventura’s life, Paolo Nunes as the man who still has issues with his leg, Paula Barrulas as Paulo’s girlfriend, Isabel Cardoso as Ventura’s wife Clotilde, Gustavo Sumpta as Vanda’s husband whom Ventura often hangs out with as they eat dinner, and Cila Cardoso as Ventura’s daughter. Alberto “Lento” Barros is excellent as Ventura’s housemate whom he would live with in various shacks as they deal with their isolation while Vanda Duarte is brilliant as a woman trying to clean herself up as she sees Ventura as a father figure as they both lament over their own sense of loss. Finally, there’s Ventura in an amazing performance as this retired 75-year old laborer whose wife leaves him with a few clothes and that is it as he laments over the world around him but also in wanting a new home but realizes that there are complications that add to this social and political disarray as it relates to the destruction of Fontainhas.
Juventude de Marcha is a sensational film from Pedro Costa. While it is a film that isn’t easy to watch due to its pacing and minimalist approach. It is still this entrancing film that showcases an old man dealing with his surroundings and the social/political chaos that is around him as it relates to people in his community with those accepting their fates with others unable to be part of society. In the end, Juventude de Marcha is a phenomenal film from Pedro Costa.
Pedro Costa Films: (O Sangue) – (Casa de lava) – Ossos - No Quatro da Vanda - (Ou git votre sourire enfoui?) – (Ne change rien) – (Cavalo dinheiro) – Vitalina Varela
© thevoid99 2022
Set in the Fontainhas slums near Lisbon as houses are being demolished, the film is a look into the life of Vanda Duarte as she is dealing with an addiction to heroin as she lives with her sister Zita and their mother Lena where the Duartes and various neighbors deal with their lives just as their homes are being destroyed nearby. It is a film that doesn’t have much of a plot in favor of just capturing things at the moment in a somewhat-fragmented style where it plays into Vanda’s daily routine as she sells lettuce and cabbage to various neighbors while she and her sister Zita do whatever they can to smoke heroin and survive while often arguing who gets the last gram. The film also go into the lives of the Duartes’ neighbors with some trying to fix up their home but also deal with despair with buildings around them being torn down as they lament over the state of their lives.
Pedro Costa’s direction is ravishing in its overall presentation as it is shot entirely on digital video in a 1:33:1 aspect ratio that definitely recalls some of the elements of the Dogme 95 movement. Yet, Costa takes an approach similar to the style of Yasujiro Ozu where everything is in a static shot whether it is in a close-up or in a medium shot as the camera never moves with very few wide shots. This approach isn’t easy at times due to the lack of conventional elements expected in a film yet it adds to this air of realism that Costa is aiming for as it is a style that allows him to do long shots where shots would range from a few minutes where the camera doesn’t move. Also serving as cinematographer, the look of the film in its digital video presentation has Costa aiming for a crude yet realistic look where he shoots everything with available light or candle lights instead of aiming for something that requires lots of lighting fixtures. It is in that approach similar to what Dogme 95 does in shooting in available light that allows Costa to capture something on location where so much is happening.
Costa’s direction might seem exploitive as it play into Vanda’s own addiction issues as well as capturing other drug addictions in their world but there is a commentary about the fact that these people who live in this world that is removed from the conventions of society. A lot of the inhabitants in Fontainhas are immigrants from African countries as well as poor Portuguese who are unable to live by the rules as much what Costa shoots is stark and at times discomforting. Even with its 171-minute running time where the pacing can be sluggish at times due to its presentation and bleak subject matter. Costa still uses this approach to showcase this world where this a tight-knit community who care about one another despite the fact that a lot of them are moving out amidst the demolition of homes around them. With the aid of editors Dominique Auvray and Patricia Saramago in maintaining this fragmented style to play into this unconventional approach to the pacing but also for the fact that a lot of the cuts are straightforward. The sound work of Philippe Morel, Mathieu Imbert, and Stephan Konken also add to this naturalistic tone as a lot of the sound that is presented in a room or outside a building is captured that plays into this realistic approach that Costa wants including its music soundtrack where a lot of it is played on location.
Since many of the people in the film that Costa profiles are non-actors with the exception of Vanda Duarte, it does maintain that sense of naturalism into the film as the people featured in the film such as Diogo Miranda, Fernando Paixao, Evangelina Nelas, Manuel Gomes Miranda, Pedro Lanban, and Paulo Jorge Goncalves showcase not just a lot of nuances into their plight but also moments that do play into how they maintain this sense of community in the neighborhood. Paolo Nunes and Antonio “Paulo” Semedo are amazing as fellow neighbors who are trying to clean up their home and make it hospitable although they’re also addicts who lament over the world around them. Lena Duarte is brilliant as Zita and Vanda’s mother who tries to keep the peace while dealing with the state of the world around her as well as her daughters’ addiction while Zita is a firecracker who often has spats with Vanda while also carrying supplies including aluminum foil they need to cook heroin for smoking. Finally, there’s Vanda Duarte as this woman who is struggling with her own addictions while knowing she has a problem while her own daily routines are fascinating as it includes scraping heroin grams from a phonebook page as well as selling lettuce and cabbage as she can be a fiery person one day but then be someone that is kind as well.
No Quatro da Vanda is an incredible film from Pedro Costa. While it is not an easy film to watch due to its near-three hour run time, long takes, minimalist approach, and sluggish pacing. It is still a film that still showcases a world that is removed from the conventions of society and how these people endure despite the awful circumstances they’re in whether by their own means or the world in general. In the end, No Quatro da Vanda is a phenomenal film by Pedro Costa.
Pedro Costa Films: (O Sangue) – (Casa de lava) – Ossos - (Ou git votre sourire enfoui?) – Juventude em marcha – (Ne change rien) – (Cavalo dinheiro) – Vitalina Varela
© thevoid99 2022
Set in the Fontainhas area of Lisbon, Portugal, the film revolves around a young girl who has given birth to a baby that she gives to his father who struggles to take care of the baby in the environment they live in as he turns to a nurse whom the young girl’s friend cleans for. It’s a film with a simple yet minimalist premise as Pedro Costa creates this story that play into two young people who are incapable of taking care of a baby as this young woman in Tina (Maria Lipkina) is a young woman with suicidal thoughts as she is watched by her older friend Clotilde (Vanda Duarte) as she tries to kill herself through carbon monoxide poisoning with her child until the baby’s father (Nuno Vaz) arrived to stop it from happening as he would take the baby but is unsure what to do. Yet, it would be a nurse in Eduarda (Isabel Ruth) who would take the father in as he would bump into Clotilde who cleans for Eduarda as she would also take Tina for jobs as a way to keep an eye on her. Still, Eduarda would watch from afar over the chaos that the father would endure as well as considering allowing a hooker (Ines Medeiros) to adopt the baby while there’s a subplot relating to Clotilde’s life and her attempts to help Tina.
Costa’s direction is entrancing for not just the sense of realism that he captures but also for the fact that the film is shot largely on location in the Fontainhas section of Lisbon as it is an area filled with African immigrants and the lower-class as a world that is removed from the vibrancy and richness of the metropolitan areas in Lisbon. While there are a few close-ups in the film, much of Costa’s direction emphasizes on medium and wide shots to not just play into this air of detachment with conventional society but also to play into this element of claustrophobia in the Fontainhas area. Notably as there’s a wide shot of the father with the baby begging for help and money in the middle of the city as it goes on for a few minutes while there are also some long tracking shots of the father walking on the streets as it goes on for a few minutes. It is among some of the stylistic moments in the film that Costa would create yet much of his direction has him aiming for a realistic style similar to cinema verite.
Costa’s approach to cinema verite by shooting in actual locations, with the exception of a few apartments outside of Fontainhas, has him capturing this air of reality that isn’t seen often in film. Even as there is this sense of uncertainty that these characters go through as well as the decisions they make with Eduarda being this outsider who barely has time to clean her apartment due to her work as a nurse. Yet, she is someone that is trying to help everyone but knows that giving them shelter or work isn’t enough as they could disappear the next day. Even as the film’s ending is an ambiguous one as it relates to the possible fate of a few characters but also this sense that life goes on in these slums. Overall, Costa crafts an evocative yet harrowing film about a young couple and others struggling with their lives in the Fontainhas slums of Lisbon.
Cinematographer Emmanuel Machuel does incredible work with the film’s cinematography with its emphasis on low-key lighting for many of the nighttime exteriors as well as bits of vibrant lighting for the scenes inside Eduarda’s apartment as it has an air of realism in its photography. Editor Jackie Bastide does excellent work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with some jump-cuts to play into some of the drama. Production designer Ze Branco does nice work with the look of Eduarda’s apartment in its interior along with the look of the hooker’s apartment. Costume designer Isabela Favila does terrific work with the costumes as it is largely straightforward in how many in the slums dress with the exception of Eduarda. The sound work of Henri Maikoff and Gerard Rousseau is fantastic for the way music sounds from afar as well as how sound is presented to maintain this air of realism.
The film’s superb ensemble cast largely feature non-actors that include Clotilde Montron and Zita Duarte as a couple of friends living in the slums Berta Susana Teixeira as a nurse who helps out the father and Clotilde, Miguel Sermao as Clotilde’s husband who is upset with her lack of time with their children, and Ines Medeiros as a hooker that the father goes to help take care of his baby. Isabel Ruth is brilliant as Eduarda as a nurse who tries to help Clotilde, Tina, and the father while lamenting over their situation as well as not being able to do more. Maria Lipkina is excellent as Tina as a teenage woman with suicidal thoughts as she laments over bringing a child to the world as well as being uncertain about what to do with her life. Vanda Duarte is amazing as Clotilde as a friend of Tina who also cleans Eduarda’s apartment as she copes with not just trying to help Tina but also deal with her own issues as she is also someone who dislikes the father of Tina’s baby. Finally, there’s Nuno Vaz in a marvelous performance as the unnamed father who is someone that is a bit selfish but does care about the baby while knowing he is incapable of raising a child due to his own destructive tendencies.
Ossos is an incredible film from Pedro Costa. Featuring a great cast, striking visuals, and its realistic depiction of people living in the slums of Fontainhas in Lisbon. It is a film that isn’t easy to watch yet it does play into this world that showcases people trying to live outside of the conventions of society. In the end, Ossos is a phenomenal film from Pedro Costa.
Pedro Costa Films: (O Sangue) – (Casa de lava) – No quarto de Vanda – (Ou git votre sourire enfoui?) – Juventude em marcha – (Ne change rien) – (Cavalo dinheiro) – Vitalina Varela
© thevoid99 2022
