Filmes de Plástico is one of the most fascinating production companies in Brazil. In a sense, it is more of a collective than a traditional film producer. Composed by André Novais Oliveira, Gabriel Martins, Maurilio Martins, and Thiago Macêdo Correia, the group took the creative process from the capital, usually held by upper-class individuals from a cultural elite, to the outskirts of Contagem, the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte. Hence, the company usually tells stories of the daily living, predominantly focusing on Black and mixed individuals, the majority of the Brazilian population, but the minority in representation on the screens. Their communal approach to filmmaking allows them to release their projects promptly. Last year, Maurilio Martins released his O Último Episódio, while Gabriel Martins launched his Christmas series, O Natal dos Silva. A few months after those releases, André Novais Oliveira presents his latest feature, Se Eu Fosse Vivo…Vivia (If I Were Alive), a selection from the Berlinale Panorama section.
In his latest, Novais Oliveira continues his interest in narrating the daily life. Similar to his features and shorts, such as O Dia que Te Conheci (The Day I Met You), Temporada (Long Way Home), and Quintal (Backyard), the filmmaker studies the small events in the life of an individual from the peripheries of a major city. Gilberto (Norberto Novais Oliveira/Jean Paulo Campos) is a young man who is in love with Jacira (Conceição Evaristo/Tainá Evaristo). Yet, he cannot go to the ball because his parents do not allow him to go out. Still, he manages to leave the house and sing a serenade to his loved one, inviting her to go to the ball. On their way home, Gilberto observes something different in the weeds in a road, and time passes. Now, they are older, married, and Jacira’s health is declining. Gilberto balances his free time between taking care of his loved one and seeking the answers he wants for a few decades.
The filmmaker from Contagem decides to start in the 1970s to approach the current life of the couple. At first, it is impressive how the usual naturalistic cinematography from the collective shifts to a granular look, reminiscent of VHS tapes and recorders from the 1970s and 1980s. Once again, the Portuguese cinematographer Leonor Teles demonstrates why she is one of the best in the industry today. Usually, she employs a deeply granular aesthetic through the perfusions of the film material, as seen in Balada de um Batráquio and Entrocamento. In this case, the texture divides the halves of the film, the past, a colorful and visually astonishing moment, from the plain digital and lifeless present. Novais Oliveira and Teles utilize these visual metaphors to deepen the complexities of age. The luxury in the textures returns to the conclusion through the magical realism elements that the director introduces to his filmography, a play with the popular beliefs, and the fantasies of the daily life
Another fascinating aspect of the newest effort by Novais Oliveira is that the casting balances out his usual choice of working with his family; Noberto is André’s father, who also starred in Quintal. Yet, the novelty is Conceição Evaristo as the co-lead. Evaristo is one of the most crucial writers in Brazilian literature, deeply appreciated for her work in expanding the public attention for Black Brazilian literature in works like Canção Para Ninar Menino Grande and Olhos d’Água. The writer’s style respects the tradition of oral storytelling, typical of the Afro-Brazilian diaspora, and the focus on stories about the communal. Hence, throughout her delicate performance as a woman who feels her time is passing promptly, she observes the individuals around her and questions the arrangements after she passes. She asks Gilberto, Who are you marrying when I die? He does not have a prompt response, but she is comfortable asking because she knows death is coming. Conceição Evaristo shines through her paused accent, which erases vowels, and speaks smoothly, almost melting the words.
Still, Se Eu Fosse Vivo…Vivia might not be as sharp as his last feature, O Dia Que Te Conheci, but it features elements fresh to his stories about people. André Novais Oliveira impresses by adding Leonor Teles to his collaborators’ roster, a brilliant cinematographer who imprints her identity to mark the different halves of a tale about time and age. Furthermore, the casting of a Brazilian literary legend, Conceição Evaristo, adds a new layer to the individuals of this Contagem, which features a multitude of stories, dreams, and traumas, similar to most of the Brazilian population.
Se Eu Fosse Vivo…Vivia played at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Learn more about the film at IMDB site for the title.
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