QUICK’N DIRTY: LIVE FROM SAN SEBASTIAN
Based on a screenplay by Chico Teixeira, a humanistic Brazilian director who passed away in 2019 at the age of 61, Dolores is a heartwarming film about a woman, her estranged daughter and her distant granddaughter. Dolores (played by Carla Ribas, who worked on Teixeira’s penultimate film A Casa de Alice, from 2007) dreams of becoming a famous cabaret singer and opening a bingo, yet a gambling addiction prevents her from reaching her goals. Her daughter Deborah (Naruna Costa) lives directly below her and yet the two barely communicate. The woman blames her mother for their dire financial situation. Duda (Ariane Nascimento) is a lot more sympathetic towards her grandmother, particularly after her nana gives her some money for a trip to the United States.
Deborah too dreams of going abroad, however her destination is a lot less ambitious. She wishes to spend her honeymoon with her soon-to-be-released-from-prison fiance Luis in neighbouring Paraguay. In Brazil, the small South American country is typically associated with cheap and fake goods. Yet it isn’t luxury that Deborah is after, but instead intimacy and affection. But Luis has a nasty surprise in store for the woman. Duda is the most settled and focused of the three. She works for the police, constantly practising her shooting skills (seemingly for noble purposes). And she can’t wait to get out of the country with her boyfriend.
However different and (at times) unwilling to communicate with each other, these women experience accomplishment and joy as they watch one another succeed. Conversely, they suffer as they witness each other’s ambitions fail to materialise. These proxy aspirations determine their present and also their future, however happy or bleak that might be. They remain determined to forge ahead – with or without a man to their side.
The story takes place in the lower middle-class suburbs of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city and a metropolis bustling with informal trade and activities. It is delicious to see various women sell food and clothes on the streets, and the sentiment of sorority is wholy palpable. Some scenes are notably meaningful, perhaps even allegorical. A dressed-up Dolores stands inside a bingo ready to sing, however the constant announcement of the latest number draw keeps her silent and in the dark. Dolores’s dream of opening such business remains a very distant one. Not only does she not possess the money required for the endeavour (in fact she keeps squandering the little cash she has by betting it), but also such trade is illegal in Brazil. Dolores hopes that this will change soon, should the nation’s congress finally legalise gambling.
The race topic is a tacit one. Dolores is white, while her daughter and granddaughter are black. We never see the black father, and the colour of their skin is never discussed. It is not entirely clear whether the creators set out to comment on white privilege, or just wished to have a more diverse cast.
Confusingly, the film lists yet another character as one of its protagonists (the leads are introduced in text format, as the movie is roughly broken down into chapters). Marlene has no blood connection to the three women. She’s just a good friend of Dolores. She too is waiting for her partner to be released from prison, the local female Parelheiros penitentiary. The purpose of this plot strand is unclear. Dolores’s real occupation too is a little blurry: it’s never entirely clear whether she makes money from singing. As a result, the film script feels uneven and unbalanced. An impactful resolution is guaranteed to put a smile on your face, however it won’t shed light on movie’s various loose ends.
Dolores premiered in the 73rd San Sebastian International Film Festival. Film producer and cinema grandee Sara Silveira opened the screening with a fiery speech. She dedicated the film to the “new state of Palestine”, while also congratulating her native Brazil for giving the world “an example of democracy” (after the country’s Supreme Copirt jailed dictatorship-loving president Bolsonaro on coupmongering charges). The directors Marcelo Gomes and Maria Clara Escobar were presented, too. They revealed that Gomes premiered his very first feature film Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures and Escobar showed her debut short Domingo at the very same same Festoval exactly 20 years ago. A beautiful serendipity and a moving encounter of Brazilian film professionals.
