Aquarius

"Aquarius" is about a half-hour too long for the story it tells, yet it feels like a privilege to be in the presence of such a powerful character and such a quietly commanding performance.

This isn't a movie about a situation; it's a movie about a fully formed, red-blooded character dealing with a situation while also dealing with everything else.

In an era when movies about and for older viewers tend to be insipid comedies, this is a welcome change of pace.

This is a film more about the sacredness of our memories than the evil ways of gentrification, but skilled director Kleber Mendonca Filho is clearly interested in both.

Despite Sonia Braga's fierce performance as a woman of unbreakable determination and proud refinement, this drama by the Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho quickly lapses into sentimental attitudinizing.

"Aquarius" makes a compelling case for looking up from our ubiquitous distractions to take in the world around us - the one that we live in and, whether we're aware of it or not, lives in us.

This clever, nuanced drama doubles as a political allegory concerning Brazilian corruption. But it would matter, regardless. A dawning, as the similarly-titled song has it.

Aquarius is the excellent new film from director Kleber Mendonça Filho, which upon viewing appears to be simply a heartfelt look at the personal cost of gentrification.

This film is the story of a free woman but above all, the renewal of a favorite Hollywood plot: the rebellion of women. [Full review in Spanish]

Aquarius is a leisurely character study that is also urgently political in its treatment of race, class and commerce.

A stealth and perverse advance that ends up manifesting in the attitude and style of the people, dragging us all to the point where, in the modern world, acting with conviction, truth and love can be seen as an act of rebellion. [Full review in Spanish]

Sonia Braga gives us one of the best performances of 2015, as a woman who's not only defending her future, but also recriminating why her past must be demolished to give way to the so-called progress. [Full review in Spanish]