Medusa

Saw this at the Rotterdam filmfestival (IFFR) 2022, not in a venue but online. I booked this movie after reading controversial and contradicting reviews. I'm not sure it's the best attitude for watching, but I did anyway. In retrospect, I'm surprised I made it until the end.

I'm a bit bothered by the all-female squad hunting women "deviating from the right path", without having any clue (at least, I did not see any) how to identify such deviators. Was it sufficient for a woman to walk alone at night, thereby assuming no proper woman has any business alone at that hour. If that was the case, the black&white division of good and bad is dangerous in the hands of uncontrolled gangs, be it men or women for that matter, usually not asking questions but merely assume, judge and strike.

The story as it enrolls does not show a natural flow and misses logical developments carrying us from A to B, then to C, and so on. We constantly see two alternating lives, one among co-believers and one other in a professional setting. The latter story starts in a hospital for plastic surgery, but our main protagonist (MP) moves to a hospital nursing comateuse people later. After she was wounded in her face yielding a very visible scar, she was dismissed by the plastic surgery hospital for fear of upsetting patients there. Her job move was deliberate: comateuse patients do not care how a nurse looks.

Due to the genre labels by IMDB, I could not help myself thinking of night shifts, being nearly alone among all those dormant coma-patients. Added to that, mostly in the company of one colleague (male) nurse, with nothing much to do to pass the time. The filmmakers probably intended to generate all kinds of thoughts with us viewers (and maybe with our MP too, as we get one sex scene, of which I'm not sure it was imagined or real).

The counseling session with the minister/vicar does not help much to keep me and our MP on the right track. However, that may be my non-pure view only, when the vicar lays hands on her but was interrupted in the middle when his presence was needed elsewhere. Maybe, my devious thoughts were not intended by the filmmakers (for me, it looked like a typical #MeToo case in progress).

And what about the surprising ending some reviewers wrote about?? What did I miss?? Or is this just a consequence of the missing narrative, leading us from one scene to another unrelated scene, and eventually to nowhere?? The alternating scenes (the street gangs, hospital, pseudo-religuous sessions, and so on) made me persist until the end, persistently longing for something relevant or interesting to happen. But I waited in vain. That I saw the ending was a miracle in itself, if I may be so bold in retrospect, usually having it switched off earlier.

All in all, I have not enough substance to write a conclusion. I scored a 2 out of 5 for the audience award, for the sole reason that the movie I saw before this one, was worse and did not deserve more than 1 out of 5.

Thematically, structurally, and in the way it ambiguously employs the fantastic, this is a film akin to another Brazilian film from 2022, "Raquel 1:1."

Both address the themes effectively (yes, these are crazy people), feature excellent performances by young actors, skillfully intertwine the coming-of-age aspects with the uncertainties and certainties of age, are visually inspiring and thought-provoking to an equal extent, falling slightly short of fully exploring their enormous potential.

Trimming off 20 minutes would make this film more narratively coherent. A different ending might be desired by many. Yet, I can't overlook all the great things it does so well, both in terms of what it has to say (and especially how it does it) and in its highly commendable technical aspects. The main lead is brilliant.

No pun intended - the movie has a lot of things for the viewer to discover. Some are subtle, others are quite on the nose. It doesn't hurt if you are a bit aware of politics in Brazil - but it also is a gender role (play - again no pun intended). You could compare it to other things that portray patriarchy - Handmaids Tale for example.

There is also a lot of religious themes in it - the Christian selfie being one of the most on the nose things in it. But also one that can be seen as the most funny - depending on how you perceive it and what kind of humor you dig.

But the movie overall is more serious - if anything you can laugh about things because you can see how strange and wrong they are. Unfortunately many of the things portrayed are still happening around the world. Brazil elected a new leader ... and maybe that will change certain things. Though the riots a few weeks ago may not be the most promising sign ... let's wait and see.

Filmmakers are here to hold a mirror and show society what is going on ... not an easy movie to watch and many long scenes (pacing may feel like its dragging) ... but very well shot and fantastically acted!

This is the kind of film that will appeal to the person who looks at 'black line on white canvas' at a modern art museum and thinks there's more to it than a black line on a white canvas. I should have known when I saw that this film was well-rated by critics that it would be a total loser, but I took a chance anyway. This was in the 'horror/thriller' category on the kanopy streaming service, and since I was in the mood for a horror, I thought I'd give it a shot. It was one of the more painful shots I've had in a while. Some of the scenes made no sense whatsoever, and you didn't know if they were real or dreamt, though they came across as real - real stupid. The whole premise doesn't make much sense, but far be it from me to spoil it for any poor sap who looks at the good reviews and wants to give it a watch. Perhaps if you're Brazilian it will make more sense to you, but for this senior American male, it was a complete dud. I don't often rate a movie a '1', but I honestly think that's what this deserves. You've been warned.

Medusa: A satire about misogyny, hypocrisy and the rise of political extremism. It's almost as if David Lynch directed Cabaret, taking a town as a microcosm of Bolsanero's Brazil. A girl gang wearing white masks, reminiscent of The Purge or Clockwork Orange roam the streets, hunting female sinners, physically attacking them, making them admit their sins of lesbianism, prostitution or adultery. This gang is also an Evangelical vocal group the Treasures run by Mariana (Mari Oliveira) and lead singer Michele (Lara Tremouroux). Their dance routines are counterposed to those of their male equivalents the Watchmen who train to take up their positions as the Morality Police. Tomorrow belongs to them. There is also the Evangelical Prophet who is running for election and uses these forces to control the streets, Even the girls selfies must be taken in a christian manner, Mariana is terribly scarred on her face when a victim fights back, she loses her job as a beautician and goes in search of a legendary figure who has inspired the Treasures venturing into grim clinics which care for those in comas. A touch of magical realism kicks in here as her search involves a reawakening. Some really disturbing scenes but the possibilities of redemption turning the tables on dark forces are also explored, A film you will mull over in your mind long after the final credits have rolled. Written & Directed by Anita Rocha da Silveira. 8/10.