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SAME OLD WEST: where men are men but aren’t great shots

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A scene from Erico Rassi’s SAME OLD WEST. Courtesy of Cinequest.

The contemporary Brazilian western Same Old West begins with two men slugging it out over a woman, before they start hiring gunmen to take out the other. She is the only woman in the film, only on screen for about 45 seconds, and, as one who knows her well observes, she has had bad luck with husbands.

Same Old West takes us into a Brazil that is neither Rio de Janeiro nor the Amazon rainforest. This is a flat and arid land that looks like it could be in Spain, Mexico or the American Southwest.  It’s a remote and backward place where hired killers are still call gunmen instead of hit men. The gunmen don’t own a .44 magnum or a Glock or an AK-47 among them – they use their hunting rifles. This is a place where making an escape on horseback is still absolutely normal.

Literally, the plot of Same Old West sounds male-oriented – a bunch of guys hunting each other with gun violence on their minds. But, it’s really about men who have been rejected by women, and their inability to understand it or to move on. They’re aspiring to toxic masculinity, but they’re too laughably pathetic to achieve it. Female audiences will appreciate the sharp critique of maleness at its most dunderheaded.

Same Old West is being characterized as a drama, which isn’t really wrong because it’s about murderous manhunts. But I see it as a dark comedy that skewers male cluelessness. The very sparse and overly formal dialogue, delivered deadpan, is remarkably droll. If you like your humor as dry as the landscape, Same Old West is downright hilarious. 

Same Old West is the second feature for writer-director Erico Rassi. It’s a visually striking and richly atmospheric film, with hints of Sergio Leone.

Cinequest hosts the world premiere of Same Old West, which I’ve highlighted in my Best of Cinequest.

A scene from Erico Rassi’s SAME OLD WEST. Courtesy of Cinequest.

AQUARIUS: spirit, thy name is Sonia Braga

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Sonia Braga in AQUARIUS
Sonia Braga in AQUARIUS

In the Brazilian character-driven drama Aquarius, Sonia Braga plays Clara, the last owner of a beachfront condo who hasn’t sold out to a developer who owns the rest of the condos.  The conflict is between Clara, who refuses to sell and those her want her to.  But Aquarius is really about Clara, and it takes its time setting up her character; it’s 26 minutes before we even see the developers.   We must understand her to understand her motivation – and her will.

Aquarius moves through scenes with a lifeguard at the beach, with girlfriends at club, at family parties,  not to move the plot, but to invest in revealing aspects of Clara’s character.  Having conquered cancer, lost her husband, raised children and built an artistic career, Clara has some mileage on her – enough to know what she wants and needs. Having earned the authority to live her life as she pleases, Clara is a wilful free spirit.  And, as everyone finds out, she is absolutely fearless.

It’s a career-capping performance for Sonia Braga, still luminous 40 years after Donna Flor and Her Two Husbands.  Mid movie, there’s a scene when Clara’s adult children try to have an awkward conversation about the financial benefits of selling the apartment.  She doesn’t make it easy for them, and their long-submerged feelings about their father and their mother surface.  With piercing observations and cold-eyed disappointment, Clara is as masterful over her children as when they were infants.  It’s hard to imagine a better movie scene this year.  Braga is brilliant.

The young Brazilian television actor Humberto Carrão is exceptional as Clara’s ever smiling foil Diego, whose youth and punctilious civility mask a capacity to engage in any tactic, even very dirty tricks.

I viewed Aquarius at the Mill Valley Film Festival.

Aquarius is critical of the political status quo, and the Brazilian government’s refusal to submit it for the Best Foreign Language Picture Oscar has created a controversy detailed in this New York Times article.