Portrait of a mixed-up world
AQUARIUS Cert 18, 146 mins
FREDDIE Mercury would love this film. A Brazilian take on Frank Capra’s You Can’t Take It With You, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s second feature not only boasts an extraordinary performance from Sonia Braga but uses two Queen numbers to sublime effect. Another One Bites the Dust and Fat Bottomed Girls have never sounded so good.
As in Filho’s debut, Neighbouring Sounds, the focus is on bullish corporations, scratchy family life and, by the by, the need for energetic women to get their kicks where they can. Where the first film’s heroine masturbates by sitting on a washing machine, here elegant, sixtysomething writer, widower and mother of three, Dona Clara (Braga), stumbles across an orgy and, minutes later, decides to hire a gigolo.
Trust me, the plot isn’t as outlandish as it sounds. The orgy has been given the go-ahead by a building company that wants to redevelop Clara’s block of flats (no amount of money will make her leave, so her enemies get creative and look for ways to sabotage her quality of life). Everything happens at a human pace and all the characters have their own texture. Clara’s loyal maid, for example, contains multitudes. Another servant, seen only in photographs and a terrifying dream sequence, is just as intriguing (Clara, in one of many shocking moments, refers to her as a “c**t”). Characters whom Clara hates are sympathetic. Characters she adores are shown to be corrupt. This is a really mixed-up world and it’s telling that Braga’s flesh, though undoubtedly beautiful, isn’t packaged in a way that’s easy on the eye. Clara has had a mastectomy, as we can see for ourselves; plenty of shots, too, allow Braga to look her age. If you have an audacious mum, or are one, make a date with Aquarius. It’s the perfect Mother’s Day treat.