Cast: Vincent Cassel, Laura Neiva, Débora Bloch Camilla Belle
Mathias (Cassel) is a charming, stubborn womaniser, and a thoroughly successful writer. Wherever he goes, people hang off his every word and cling tightly to his roguish smile and powerful character. His three children adore him, especially his beautiful, awkward fourteen-year-old daughter Filipa. There is only one person that has learnt to despise him, and over whom he has no control… his wife, Clarice. The family have moved to a beachside community for an extended holiday so that Mathias and Clarice can give their marriage one last chance. But Mathias is already sleeping with a beautiful young American woman, and Clarice is drinking too much and spending more and more time away from the house. The story of this crumbling relationship is not told from the perspective of either party, but is seen through the eyes of the adolescent Filipa, who learns a great deal about herself while watching her beloved parents tear each other apart.
Filipa is at that awkward age between childhood and young adulthood; she is vulnerable and just wants to be loved and teased by her father, but she is also dealing with the beginnings of sexuality, and the realisation that she harnesses great power over the rougher sex. When she discovers that Mathias is a philanderer, and loses faith in her spiteful and uncontrollable mother, Filipa suddenly discovers the most important lesson a child can learn on their way to adulthood… she is alone. But by the end of the story, when Mathias has been humbled by Clarice’s decision to leave him for a younger man, Filipa has matured into a young woman and is ready to find a way to love her father anew.
Heitor Dhalia’s film paints a vivid and powerful picture of a hopelessly flawed family. The entire film is imbued with a subtle romance, with soft focus shots of characters riding around on motorbikes with the wind in their hair, and relaxing half-naked on golden beaches by glimmering diamond seas. The only things that disturb this image are the characters themselves, with their broken souls and confused and selfish actions. It is easy to fall in love with any of these characters – the charming rogue, the coquettish girl, or the tearful, beautiful mother – but they will all disappoint you in the end, as they fail to keep check of their emotions and fall helplessly into the traps of their own making. This is a mature and thoughtful drama that absorbs the viewer into the world of the family, and leaves him or her as emotionally bruised and drained as the characters themselves.
Mathias (Cassel) is a charming, stubborn womaniser, and a thoroughly successful writer. Wherever he goes, people hang off his every word and cling tightly to his roguish smile and powerful character. His three children adore him, especially his beautiful, awkward fourteen-year-old daughter Filipa. There is only one person that has learnt to despise him, and over whom he has no control… his wife, Clarice. The family have moved to a beachside community for an extended holiday so that Mathias and Clarice can give their marriage one last chance. But Mathias is already sleeping with a beautiful young American woman, and Clarice is drinking too much and spending more and more time away from the house. The story of this crumbling relationship is not told from the perspective of either party, but is seen through the eyes of the adolescent Filipa, who learns a great deal about herself while watching her beloved parents tear each other apart.
Filipa is at that awkward age between childhood and young adulthood; she is vulnerable and just wants to be loved and teased by her father, but she is also dealing with the beginnings of sexuality, and the realisation that she harnesses great power over the rougher sex. When she discovers that Mathias is a philanderer, and loses faith in her spiteful and uncontrollable mother, Filipa suddenly discovers the most important lesson a child can learn on their way to adulthood… she is alone. But by the end of the story, when Mathias has been humbled by Clarice’s decision to leave him for a younger man, Filipa has matured into a young woman and is ready to find a way to love her father anew.
Heitor Dhalia’s film paints a vivid and powerful picture of a hopelessly flawed family. The entire film is imbued with a subtle romance, with soft focus shots of characters riding around on motorbikes with the wind in their hair, and relaxing half-naked on golden beaches by glimmering diamond seas. The only things that disturb this image are the characters themselves, with their broken souls and confused and selfish actions. It is easy to fall in love with any of these characters – the charming rogue, the coquettish girl, or the tearful, beautiful mother – but they will all disappoint you in the end, as they fail to keep check of their emotions and fall helplessly into the traps of their own making. This is a mature and thoughtful drama that absorbs the viewer into the world of the family, and leaves him or her as emotionally bruised and drained as the characters themselves.
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