Change Your Image
aryamjr
Reviews
O Veneno da Madrugada (2005)
most underrated Brazilian film of the past decade
After reading an article that said Gabriel Garcia Marques loved Guerra's vision of his story, I went to the theater with curiosity and was blown away.
Despite being a respected director adapting a famous author, with gorgeous visuals from one of Brazil's best cinematographer, the film was poorly released and quickly vanished from the few screens it was shown, the weirdness of it also scared a lot of critics and viewers but being a fan of Lynch and Cronenberg the film definitely 'clicked' with me. Guerra translated the feel of Marques' narrative very well (he adapted the Colombian writer a few times before so, he's actually comfortable doing it), it's a dense and sometimes obtuse look at several characters and the environment they're inserted, a decaying, rain-soaked village in the middle of nowhere, not a very subtle analogy to the community's own sick and twisted souls, but it helps to create an uncomfortable and effective setting.
Not all actors are at ease with the dialog though, which sticks a little too much to the original source, only the lead (Medeiros) and a few others seem to find the correct tone but the main star of the film is the narrative. I'll try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, but i can't review it without mentioning the bizarre twist that will screw the fragile minds of the audience: At certain points the director splits the time line, going back and forth showing different possibilities for certain situations, a bold extravagance that may lose some viewers but it's the point where the film jumps from 'cool' to 'great' for me. Hopefully it will be discovered by a new audience in the future.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
Not a mainstream movie
This film defies conventions, some people may get drawn to it because of the subtitle "the story of a murderer" and since it's a period piece, may expect a Jack The Ripper type of flick like "From Hell" but this reminded me more of a Gabriel Garcia Marques "magical-realism" kind of narrative, and the voice-overs do make it feel more like a fable. Not a conventional work and will probably gather a cult following in the next years.
I've found the film completely gripping despite the lenght, never ceasing to amaze me, the art direction is dazzling and the music beautiful, the acting is also great with luxury cameos by Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman. Twiker is a complete filmmaker and this is his best yet, or at least my favorite so far, using his visual and editing tricks to the fullest in order to tell the story. A totally unique and original movie.
Maybe my score raises to 10 with time, we'll see...