“Casa Izabel” uses allegory to talk about the Dictatorship

“Casa Izabel (Brazil, 2022)” Like a social critique by Buñuel or Pasolini, “Casa Izabel” uses allegory to weave its commentary on one of Brazil’s darkest periods: the military dictatorship. Director Gil Baroni was inspired by a book of photographs that shows the patrons of a house of American men dressed as women, between 1950 and 1960, who met secretly.

In the 1970s, there is a mansion where those who arrive must dress as women and leave their weapons at the door. There, the outside world is forgotten and the men transform into ladies. Regina (Andrei Moscheto) is the newcomer. Guided by the maid Leila (Jorge Neto), she enters this world, an apparent refuge and a space of freedom for any fantasies.

At the same time, the concerns of the woman and maid Dália (Laura Haddad), who takes care of the place, are very real: the convalescence of the matriarch Izabel (Luís Melo) and the disappearance of her son Daniel, a militant university student. The contradiction and hypocrisy stem from the fact that, even when mounted, the men are just playing around and continue to exercise the patriarchy.

“Casa Izabel” follows an ambitious narrative, its very title suggests liberation, but nevertheless the mansion, with colonial architecture, seems to refer to the slavery period, while the photography, by Renato Ogata, artfully frames luxurious dresses, painted faces and an intelligent scenic game that sets the scene for dialogues full of symbolism.

Little by little, through a delicious mix of kitsch and tension, we discover that “Casa Izabel” holds many secrets. The film does not only talk about what is seen, but also about what lies beneath the surface of a conservative society and outdated social conventions.

Powerful, the soundtrack features not only classical music greats such as Chopin and Beethoven, but also a bit of anachronism with music by Elza Soares, Tim Maia and Roseane Santos.

More mature than the director’s debut film, “Alice Júnior” (2019), Baroni and screenwriter Luiz Bertazzo expose different forms of desire, orientation, sexuality and discourse. The employees are placed in the position of protagonists, while the hypocritical bourgeois refugees in disguise are a representation of a society as contemporary as it was in the 1970s.

Not everything has been told about the dictatorship, and there are many national films on the subject, but never from such a queer perspective. A work that uses the symbolism of bodies to address themes such as politics, misogyny and patriarchy.

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

Instagram: @cinematografiaqueer

Twitter: @eduardoirib

By Ezatamentchy