Expedito, a retired, brooding sixty-something has lost all ties to life and aimlessly walks the streets of downtown Rio de Janeiro unnoticed, sidelined by the frantic pace of the metropolis.
Introduction: Prof. Fernando Arenas (Afro-American & African Studies/Romance Languages & Literatures, University of Michigan)
Bezerra gives an astonishingly organic performance as Expedito, a retired, brooding sixty-something who has lost all ties to life and aimlessly walks the streets of downtown Rio de Janeiro unnoticed, sidelined by the frantic pace of the metropolis. His almost imperceptible steps toward rejoining the living are marked by the film’s intricate sound design, which forms the backbone of what is essentially a cinematic poem teetering between documentary and fiction. Listening in on the dramas of others, either on his ever-present radio or in conversations overheard in the streets and crowded restaurants, he gradually makes these sounds part of his own reality. The gorgeous black-and-white cinematography allows Rocha to play with past and present, mixing what was and what is into a beautifully calibrated feature debut. (MOMA [New York])
Co-sponsored by: Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies Brazil Initiative; African Studies Center; Department of Afro-American and African Studies; Humanities Institute; International Institute; Department of Romance Languages and Literatures; Sheldon Cohn Fund, Department of Screen Arts and Cultures; and Center for European Studies.
For more information about the Lusophone Film Fest, visit the web site HERE.
