esrosedotblog

It is rare to see a film that is just simply "nice". Period.

Today was that rare film.

O Som ao Redor / Neighboring Sounds (2013)

This NYTimes Critics' Pick by Kleber Mendonça Filho, a Brazilian film critic. A lot of these guys end up making their own films. The entire French New Wave was made up of former critics.

In this very carefully crafted film, we see a middle class neighborhood. It is in "transition" as they say. Small simple houses mixing now with high rises. The higher you go in a building, the snottier you can get.

There are a manageable number of people who we watch passing their day. Continuing stories. Some connected. A few are related through an Uncle who turns out to own a lot of the property and is a bit of a godfather to the whole tribe.

A "protection" business comes along. We are led to believe that it might be shady. Someone says that there was a rash of auto break-ins just as these guys came around to sell their service. But we know who is stealing the CDs out of cars. There is this kind of interweaving of stories.

Some people will go through this film not ever seeing or knowing about the others while a few will have either direct contact or glancing collisions in their daily rounds.

The security guys get the job and become the night watch although it is not clear how they are getting paid as they seem indifferent to that issue. Weird.

There are other weird aspects.

The film opens with old black and white photos of peasants. This is a setup for another thread, the involvement of poorer people as servants to these residents. Almost every residence has one. And they are part of the life in one way or another and also have their own society. Upstairs Downstairs.

Little by little we see history emerge. Backgrounds. Connections. Nice.

There is an ending which is a quite logical one but which I found very surprising and even shocking.

There are sounds all the time. He plays with us. They are loud or soft. They are neighbors talking. There is a long running joke with a barking dog. There are some totally hilarious bits in here. LOL moments. A bored woman finds a totally creative way to get stoned and masturbate while her kids are in the next room.

The sounds do portend and foreshadow. There is an extremely disturbing piece in the middle in which the neighborhood seems to be invaded by a large gang of intruders. Over the fence. Inside.

And, of course, the presence of the security guys which is justified by their good works is seen as a good thing but then, well, some not so good things. A bit ominous.

I did not see the payoff of all this coming. I would like to go back and visit his film again and watch for the signs, if any. It would not be boring in any case. Every one of these people is worth watching and we do not get tired of them. They surprise, they amuse, they make us think. Like normal people in a neighborhood.

This is a 5 out of Netflix5. It will re-enter my queue when they get it back. I will need to see it again.

Labels: films