In what space do people exist? ——Remember the story of a nail household

Vaughn 2022-04-04 09:01:08

Long before watching the film, I saw that the comments were full of definitions of nail-biting households, and I also knew that the so-called forced demolition was far less severe than what happened in my dynasty. It was with this attitude that I went deeper, and the viewing experience was subverted.

Rather than focusing on the nail households, it is better to say that this is the story of how an aging middle-class woman examines her own existence and life. The demolition is just a small whirlpool, entrenched in the center of that period of life, messing with it. yes or no.


Making noises, burning mattresses, or even placing ant nests, is arrogant and infringing, is it too much? Yes, but this is relative. We have already seen events that are more tragic and excessive than this. The contradictions are indeed the same, but the external manifestations are quite different. In the end, the protagonist still hired a lawyer, put rotten wood in it, and went to tear up the builder.

She didn't lose.


Brazil's social division is very large. It is also said in the movie that the other side of the drain is the poor area, and this side is the rich area. Clara lives here, which leads to her collision with the builder. Unlike the collision between the poor and the builder, she has certain weapons to protect herself, and it may not be her who is shattered. So you will find that she was indeed carried by the vortex, but the vortex itself did not cause a destructive blow to her.

Therefore, the focus of the story is inevitably brought to the protagonist's prudence and thinking about his own life.


Like a lot of people have mentioned, I also don't think Clara is a likable character. She suffered from cancer in her early years and lost her husband for many years. The label of being a female music critic is not a problem, but it is easy for people to admire her. But stubbornness and stubbornness permeated in, and Clara was very stubborn in all aspects of life and emotions. Combined with the length of the film, it highlighted a sense of dissociation that had been broken up, and the characters became self-restrained.

Clara's reason for opposing demolition is that the apartment carries memories of the past, as she told her children, witnessing their growth. She is indeed very persistent in this, and the story is always advancing in her memory of the past, and every flashback seems to be inseparable from her current life. After externalization, this is the space she lives in, both this apartment and the past, and the two are indistinguishable.


The way the director handles this relationship is interesting. In his own words, it was a flashback, an unexpected flashback. It does create narrative tension, like the chest of drawers, which is ordinary, but after watching the movie, you can't help but remember it. Such a method opens up a path between the film and the audience, so that the prominently expressed things can pass through and be remembered by the audience. It's great, I love it.

However, it is precisely this original intention that has also become a very unbearable point of the film, that is, it is too long. The director put all the focus of the story on Clara's body, not counting everything on the left side as props for shaping the character, which made the criticism of the black-hearted builders drop, and the characters also appeared over-shaped. trace. The focus is too deep, which not only distracts the theme, but also almost pierces the characters.


This problem, until the end of the film, was only covered by a climax. Before this, the story was mostly in a state of blandness and laxity, and you might read it with relish, or you might read it with drowsiness. If it goes on like this, to the end, at least for me, the whole story will feel like it's on the verge of breaking.

Of course, fortunately not. A climax of tearing up the builders by hand, gathering all the wisps of power that had been painstakingly created in the front, and made a complete explosion. The story comes to an abrupt end here, but the plot thread seems to be spreading beyond the black screen.


Aside from these, there are so many problems in Brazilian society, far from being able to be loaded by such a film. Therefore, it can actually be considered a success if it can accommodate a section, or even the state of a group.

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Extended Reading
  • Tamia 2022-04-09 09:01:08

    Resistance and sexuality support women's eternal youth.

  • Trystan 2022-04-09 09:01:08

    [Brazil] The memories carried between the buildings include past history, music, personnel and sex; the moth-eaten wood and mottled brick walls piece together all the things Clara once lived. "Aquarius" is her territory and kingdom. Even if she is in a sinister trap and conspiracy, she must resist to the death; in the face of the complicated world, she must maintain her voice. Although it is full of perspective and the themes involved are very serious, it is also a story of a middle-aged woman that is gentle and full of possibilities; the portrayal of her perspective and the relationship with her surroundings is also very lifelike.

Aquarius quotes

  • Clara: It's impressive what people say about lack of education, and they always refer to poor people, but lack of manners isn't in poor people, it's in rich, well educated people like you, the elite, who think they are elite, who think they are privileged, who don't stand in line, you know? People like you who took a "business" course, but lack basic human decency, who have no character, you know? No character, no I mean, you do have a character; your character is money, all you've got is your shit-eating smile; that's what you got.

  • Clara: So when you like it, it's vintage; when you don't like it, it's old. Is that right? You guys don't know what it's like to feel crazy without being crazy and that the madness is out there, don't you? Another thing that's really crazy around here is that we're talking about money.