Nina (2004)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Heitor Dhalia

Writers:

Marçal Aquino (writer)
Heitor Dhalia (writer)

Genre:

Drama | Animation | Thriller

Plot:

Psychological thriller larded with manga-like animations about the young, poor comic strip illustrator Nina, living with her mean landlady. She sinks further and further into a violent fantasy world. |

Plot Keywords:

Landlady | Loneliness | Urination | Panties | Humiliation

Awards:

3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Guta Stresser	...	Nina
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Milhem Cortaz	...	Carlão
Anderson Faganello	...	Tatuado / Tatoo Boy
Abrahão Farc	...	Sr. Freak
Juliana Galdino	...	Ana
Heitor Goldflus	...	Homem na lanchonete
Ailton Graça	...	Policial / Policeman #3
Sabrina Greve	...	Sofia
Luíza Mariani	...	Alice
Altamiro Martins	...	Médico / Doctor
Selton Mello	...	Amigo de Ana / Ana's Friend
Wagner Moura	...	Cego / Blind Man
Myrian Muniz	...	Eulália
Matheus Nachtergaele	...	Pintor / Painter #2
Walter Portela	...	Detetive #1
Lázaro Ramos	...	Pintor / Painter #1
Eduardo Semerjian	...	Policial / Policeman #4
Renata Sorrah	...	Prostituta / Hooker
Nivaldo Todaro	...	Detetive #2
Guilherme Weber	...	Arthur

Runtime:

85 min | Brazil:90 min

Country:

Brazil

Language:

Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Brazil:16

Filming Locations:

São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Company:

Branca Filmes

Movie Connections:

References A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Is there a novel in the house?

Re-working Raskolnikov as a listless but poor goth girl/would-be comic book artist in Sao Paolo, Brazil may have been an ingenious idea. Maybe it would have worked as a farce or a dark comedy. But setting up the expectations of a contemporary reworking of CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, NINA shows little understanding of the source material. It's an attempt at a radical reinterpretation that completely misses out on what made Dostoevsky's novel so brilliant. In the novel, the crime is deliberately planned out, committed without remorse. The punishment comes later. Here, it's a crime committed in the heat of the moment where the after-effects are an immediate loss of sanity. It's not simply that the film lacks the psychological depth of the Dostoyevski novel - that would be like complaining that a pond is shallow compared to an ocean - but that we are directed to feel sympathy for Nina. But why should we? We are not given any reason to other than images of her eating cat food. As a portrait of the difficulties facing Brazilian youth, the film serves as its own worst enemy since, in the case of its protagonist, it makes the difficulties appear to be self-imposed. Director Heitor Dhalia also wants to have it both ways - Nina steals from a blind man but then she gives part of her loot to a woman who's been violently thrown out of a cab for not having the money to pay for the ride. And I have nothing wrong with unlikeable protagonists (they can make for compelling films) but that the film attempts to elicit feelings of sympathy for her while not giving us any reason to. As a "descent into the mind of someone losing their mind", the film lacks the urban suffocation of the masterpiece of the genre, Roman Polanski's REPULSION. Attempts at creepy atmospherics feel forced (a product of the sound design/cinematography) and lacking any emotional depth or resonance.

By far, the highlight of the film is Myrian Muniz as the landlady from hell who plays the part with repulsive perfection (her evil wench is reminiscent of Anne Ramsey of THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN and THE GOONIES fame).