| THE FULL BRAZILIAN : a short essay on Chico Teixeira's "Alice's House" : [8/10] |
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| Monday, 15 September 2008 | |
 Of the 14 new films I saw at January's Rotterdam Film Festival, my clear favourite was a relatively "small" and unheralded Brazilian picture, Alice's House - the belated feature debut from 50-year-old Chico Teixeira. Though he's won awards for his documentaries, Teixeira doesn't a fraction of the international profile enjoyed by compatriots Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries), Jose Padilha (Elite Squad) or Fernando Meirelles (City of God). That may soon change. A superbly-observed tale of family life in modern-day São Paulo, Alice's House illustrates the strength and weaknesses of 'International Film Festival Rotterdam' (IFFR). Since 1972, IFFR has presented "a quality selection of worldwide independent, innovative and experimental cinema" - a showcase that's gradually grown from a bijou boutique into a dauntingly vast smorgasbord. With well over 200 feature-films on show, genuine quality can too often slip undetected under any viewer's radar. Then again, it's perhaps better to stumble across gems like Alice's House unprepared and unaware. This is perhaps an odd film to find among such avant-garde company: Teixeira doesn't try to break new technical or thematic ground, doesn't indulge in eye-catching flourishes. But how refreshing to find a film which does simple things so expertly, proceeding from start to finish with barely a mis-step. Crucial to this success are the performances: hats off to the actors, Teixeira, and casting-director/acting-coach Fátima Toledo: it's almost unbelievable that few of the main thespians have much big-screen experience - especially Carla Ribas, who's just terrific in the central role of Alice. A fortysomething beautician, Alice re-examines her life after discovering her inattentive taxi-driver husband Lindomar (Zé Carlos Machado) has been canoodling with a much-younger neighbour (not that Alice herself is a model of fidelity.) Adding further complications are the apartment's other residents: Alice's three feuding teenage sons, and her crotchety, superstitious, nosey mother Dona Jacira (scenestealing septuagenarian Berta Zemel). Teixeira's script - co-written with Marcelo Gomes, Julio Pessoa and Sabina Anzuategui - is largely restrained and realistic, unfussily capturing the quotidian rhythms and dynamics of an ordinary family in their unremarkable city-centre flat (the crowded "house" of the semi-ironic title.) And while he introduces notes of melodrama - a handy coincidence or three; the convenient off-screen death of a key character; Dona Jacira's incipient blindness - they never disrupt the carefully-maintained mood of accurate verisimilitude. Such touches instead nod to the telenovelas (soap-operas) which form part of the noisy background chatter in the world's fifth-biggest city, and to which several characters are addicted. Indeed, as someone remarks, Alice's surprisingly torrid love-life "would make a great telenovela". Indeed so, but we're worlds away from small-screen Brazilian soaps' garish excesses. Every facet of Teixeira's production unobtrusively impresses: cinematography, production-design, art-direction, costumes. Editor Vânia Debs trims proceedings down to a fat-free 92 minutes, resulting in socially-conscious "world" cinema at its most accessibly straightforward and down-to-earth. It's easy to underestimate Teixeira's achievement - his film starts off low-key and seemingly unremarkable ("it's a small world, not a big one"), but by the end you realise that it's really something rather special: a quiet marvel that packs considerable emotional punch. Alice's House obtained limited US release in January and - especially given the lukewarm fare so often to be found on British arthouse screens - some enterprising distributor really should give it a chance over here too. Neil Young September 15th, 2008 ALICE'S HOUSE : [8/10] : A casa de Alice : Brazil 2007 : Chico TEIXEIRA : 92m : seen 30.1 Venster, Rotterdam (press show - Rotterdam Film Festival) more from IFFR 2008... 
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