10 reasons (or more) to see “Heartless”

“Without Heart” (Brazil/France/Italy, 2023) “Without a Heart” arrived on Netflix. The film is a microcosm of life itself full of unique and unforgettable moments, portraying a spectrum of human experiences, from joy to sadness, from loss to gain, from fear of the unknown to the discovery of deep love. The page listed a series of reasons not to miss the film.

1- PREMIERE OF TIÃO AND NARA NORMANDE
The directors’ feature film directorial debut, it is distinguished by an incredibly harmonious style, mixing authenticity and sensitivity, realism and fantasy, and individual and collective portraits, all in contrast to dreamy seaside landscapes.

2 – AUTOBIOGRAPHIC TONE

It is notable that the work has an autobiographical tone. The synopsis says that Tamara is enjoying her last weeks in the village where she lives before leaving for Brasília. One day, she hears about a teenager nicknamed Heartless. Over the summer, Tamara feels a growing attraction to this girl.

3 – PHOTOGRAPHY

“Sem Coração” is a coming-of-age film. The protagonists are very different boys and girls who populate the tropical beaches of Brazil in 1996. Tamara, who begins to discover her attraction to women by watching sex tapes, falls in love with Sem Coração, a adult fisherwoman who prostitutes herself to survive.

5 – SHORT FILM

The film is the sequel to a 2014 short film of the same name, awarded at the “Directors’ Fortnight” in Cannes, with which it shares the environments and colors and the protagonist, Eduarda Samara.

6 – REFERENCES

The filter of an extraordinary feminine and feminist sensitivity (the director’s explicit references are to the cinema of Lucrécia Martel, Alice Rohrwacher, but also Céline Sciamma) manages to hold even the most brutal and harsh scenes in some moral way.

7- CAST

One of the highlights of the film are the captivating performances delivered by its young actors, who bring depth and authenticity to their characters, making the audience truly connect with their stories. The adult highlights go to Maeve Jinkings, from “Pedágio” and Erom Cordeiro.

8 – FANTASTIC REALISM

In the encounter of “Sem Coração”, with sea creatures, Normande and Tião choose the path of the senses, working in part on the material consistency of the sounds, while, from another perspective, they insert elements of magical realism that have an explicit symbolic value.

9 – DECENTRALIZATION

The film leaves the Rio-SP axis and is set in Guaxuma, near Maceió, capital of coastal tourism, in Alagoas. Guaxuma is the title of an animated short film by Normande, and it is also where “Sem Coração” was born a decade ago. The soundtrack is also part of this aspect with names like Maria Bethânia, Cavalo de Pau and Mastruz com Leite.

10 – RESISTANCE

Normande said that the film was delayed a lot, due to the pandemic and the Bolsonaro government that froze resources. The representation of a nature that is still fraternal, in which and with which it is still possible to live in harmony, in a tragic moment for the planet and in particular for Brazil, perhaps contains more than one utopian and hopeful element.

11 – PRODUCTION

“Without Heart” is produced by the Brazilian Cinemascope (Emilie Lesclaux and Kleber Mendonça Filho, director of “Bacurau” and “Retratos Fantamas”), the French company Les Valseurs and the Italian Nefertiti Film.

*Eduardo de Assumpção is a journalist and responsible for the blog cinematografiaqueer.blogspot.com

Instagram: @cinematografiaqueer

Twitter: @eduardoirib

By Ezatamentchy