Is story of sisters, their dreams Un Certain Regard Award for Aïnouz
■ Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão
The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão, a sweeping melodrama set in 1950s Rio de Janeiro by Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz, bagged the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section, Festival de Cannes’ second most high-profile showcase.
Adapted from the 2015 novel by Martha Batalha, the film tells the story of two sisters in desperate pursuit of their dreams.
Twenty-year-old Guida (played by Julia Stockler), seeks love, passion, relationship of her choice, while 18year-old Euridice (Carol Duarte), a gifted pianist, wants to study at the music conservatory in Vienna. But both are trapped in the conservative morality of their patriarchal middle class family, and when one dares to chase her dreams, it
means heartbreaking separation that leads to decades of yearning, unanswered questions and letters from one that never reach the other.
The film, in Portuguese, is both tragic and uplifting as the two sisters negotiate small pieces of their desire while always aching for the lost sister.
That the film appealed to Un Certain Regard’s fivemember jury, led by president Nadine Labaki (Oscarnominated director of Capernaum), is no surprise.
But some of the jury’s other picks for seven awards from a total of 18 films competing in the Un Certain Regard section reinforced the criticism that the Cannes film festival is a lifetime membership club where directors graduate from one section to another.
Talent matters, of course. But loyalty counts for a lot, especially because Cannes’ rules demand a huge sacrifice: For any film to be considered in Cannes’ official sections, it should not have been shown internationally, at film festivals, in any country other than where it was produced, or on the Internet. This restriction narrows directors’ chances of entering their films in other festivals and they are, at times, compensated in other ways.
But when Oliver Laxe’s Galician film, Fire Will Come, won the Jury Prize, there were no grudging noises. The film tells the story of Amador Coro (played by Amador) who is released from prison after serving his sentence for arson. He returns to a small village in Galicia, to live with his mother and three cows, and life goes on calmly till the night when a fire devastates the region.
The Special Jury Prize went to director Albert Serra for Liberté, a film that devotes itself to ogling an orgy between 18th-century libertines in the French countryside.
A special award, the Coup de Coeur, was handed to two films: Quebecois filmmaker Monia Chokri for A Brother’s Love, and American writer-directoractor Michael Angelo Covino’s The Climb.