A Poet’s Tempestuous Romance in Brazil

Inspired by the 1995 Brazilian best seller “Rare and Commonplace Flowers,” Bruno Barreto’s “Reaching for the Moon” likewise imagines Elizabeth Bishop’s extraordinary relationship with the Brazilian architect Lota de Macedo Soares. It’s an abridgment of a composite, which leads to the biographical equivalent of plot-point summary. But Mr. Barreto and his lead actresses do stage a battle of creative and romantic egos, as Bishop (Miranda Otto) and Lota (Glória Pires) push up against the bounds of what the heart can take.

Bishop’s 1951 visit to Rio de Janeiro, which turned into a 15-year stay, readily blooms into melodrama. Bishop, a New England native, stays at Lota’s spectacular country estate and becomes part of Lota’s customarily outsize plans. Deeply attracted, Bishop enters into a volatile domestic arrangement with the safely ruling-class Lota and her long-suffering lover, the American exile Mary Morse (Tracy Middendorf). In Mr. Barreto’s vintage-dress paradise, which also celebrates an era of promise in Brazil’s history, Bishop writes, loves and sometimes drinks herself senseless.

Ms. Otto conveys a double-edged intelligence as the film’s pinched notion of “Elizabeth Bishop in Brazil,” while Ms. Pires strides about, every snap judgment and grand gesture a measure of her appeal. Both are hemmed in by direction and a screenplay that are relentlessly on point (as well as an off-the-shelf score).

Bishop’s poetry serves largely to illustrate pivotal moments, which detracts from the poems’ complexity and makes the screenplay sound worse. In his 19th feature, Mr. Barreto assuredly embraces an approach that’s counter to much received wisdom about Bishop’s life and work. But his film ultimately dooms itself.


Bron: The New York Times, 7 november 2013
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/...eth-bishop.html

Eigen mening:
Reaching for the moon is film die niet echt "brandend actueel"* is, maar toch de moeite is om hem als tip even te delen. De film zelf laat, mijns inziens, zeker een indruk na.

Ik bekeek deze gisterenavond en betrap mezelf erop dat mijn gedachten nu, 8u later, nog steeds naar "Reaching for the moon" en de jaren 50 aesthetic afdwalen.
Deze film laat net zo'n indruk achter, daar er een hele doelgroep op een mooie manier gerepresenteerd wordt.

Soms is zulke afleiding van onze wereld die (quasi letterlijk) in brand staat, niet zo erg slecht.

Een echte aanrader!
Tip: de film zelf is beschikbaar via de YouTube uitleendienst!
De trailer vind je hier .

* Hoewel 2013 nog niet zo lang geleden is, is het wel lang genoeg om van een andere tijd te spreken.
"Grappig" genoeg waren er enkele scènes waar ik meteen "CORONA!!" dacht. Zo zien we maar hoe ook dit dan toch ons "nieuwe normaal" is geworden...