Odilon Rocha / Brazil / 2011 / 105 min
With paedophilic public figures and equestrian entrées, a desire to zone-out to the fictional problems of EastEnders is understandable. Odilon Rocha’s film however shows how blurry the line between soap and reality can become. As 1970s Brazil is under a dictatorship, political activist Dora (Claudia Ohana) and friend Amanda (Vanessa Giácomo) go into hiding after killing a policeman. Travelling to Rio, Dora tries to do right by her distant son Caio (Paulo Lontra), while Amanda realises her dream of discovering the discotheque from her favourite soap Dancin’ Days.
The overtly dramatic events of political revolution and an estranged mother and son are satirised by the film’s title. Rocha plays off the glamorous, hyper-reality of a soap against the grim reality of life, seen in the segment cutting between the disco and torture. This comparison works in two ways; firstly showing you can’t always live the highlife but more importantly showing how certain decisions will lead to different life directions. It’s an examination of motives and reasoning, each character making a choice about what to pursue, be it a selfish or nationalistic agenda. Aided by the clunky noises of the soundtrack and melodramatic gestures Rocha uses the soap genre to make the point that what you do doesn’t have be glitzy or patriotic, it just has to be right for yourself.
Showing as part of the Glasgow Film Festival 2013
Follow Callum on Twitter @CWMadge