Watch a career-best Sonia Braga in the new… | Little White Lies

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Watch a career-best Sonia Bra­ga in the new Aquar­ius trailer

23 Feb 2017

Words by David Jenkins

Take an exclu­sive look at direc­tor Kle­ber Men­donça Filho’s upcom­ing drama.

Brazil­ian film­mak­er Kle­ber Men­donça Fil­ho has fol­lowed up his crit­i­cal­ly-acclaimed 2012 debut fea­ture Neigh­bour­ing Sounds with anoth­er inti­mate and gen­tly affect­ing char­ac­ter study.

Nom­i­nat­ed for both the Palme d’Or and the Queer Palm at the 2016 Cannes Film Fes­ti­val, Aquar­ius tells the sto­ry of Clara (Sonia Bra­ga), a 65-year-old wid­ow and retired music crit­ic, was born into afflu­ence in Brazil. She is the last res­i­dent of the Aquar­ius, an apart­ment block built in the 1940s in wealthy sea­side resort Aveni­da Boa Viagem, Recife.

With a con­trac­tor eye­ing the prop­er­ty for rede­vel­op­ment, Clara pledges that she will only leave upon her death, which sparks a exas­per­at­ing and at times fright­en­ing con­flict with the com­pa­ny. It’s a mov­ing tale of resilience in which Brazil­ian upper-class soci­ety is grad­u­al­ly picked apart by a social­ly astute direc­tor who just keeps get­ting better.

Aquar­ius is released in cin­e­mas 24 March.

Two illustrated book covers depicting a smiling Black man wearing a hat and tie, with a city skyline in the background

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