A Brazilian film set in the 1950's which focuses on a pair of sisters who are torn apart by circumstances orchestrated by their own father. One daughter wants to be a concert pianist (she's seen throughout the film studying for a prestigious spot abroad at a music academy) while the other is a wild child who hooks up w/a Greek sailor on leave. One night while the pianist is entertaining the family she will marry into, the wild child sneaks out & effectively elopes w/the sailor leaving the country. Close to a year later, the wild child returns home, having broken up w/the Grecian cad, her father, a strict authoritarian who felt her leaving & returning now w/child was an unconscionable slight against the family, prompts him to reject her & throw her out of the house. Vowing to separate the sisters forever more, he never tells the other sister her sibling had returned. What follows is a gut wrenching odyssey of sisters kept apart for years (we hear one sided voice over narration from the wild child as we hear her letters to the missing sister asking for forgiveness & a possible reconciliation). We ache for a reunion as time marches on & as the ending approaches, the lump in your throat only gets heavier & heavier. Wonderfully acted & impeccably mounted w/a great distinct title credit design that would make Saul Bass or Pablo Ferro proud, this is one for the vaults. Co-starring Fernanda Montenegro (Oscar nominee for Central Station) in a small but pivotal role.
Review of Invisible Life
