This film and actress deserve all the accolades and more. I see her face and eyes before me after watching it today.
Feel haunted by the film, it has been a long time since a movie made such an impression on me, has not left my mind after leaving the cinema.
As a woman, a wife, a mother, a person from a country with a history of oppression like a quilt of human tragedy, it pierced through my heart and floored me.
Cinematically it is utterly beautiful, graceful, art, far above and beyond what the contemporary is swimming in.
It doesn’t feel like a film, it feels painfully real. It’s impossible not to fall in love with this family and feel like your rib cage is crushing inside for them. A must-see masterpiece!
I'm waiting for the film to be released in the UK as I've heard great things about it, so your post is very timely! Brazil is a country with a fascinating story and unfortunately not enough movies made there manage to make it to English-speaking countries, which is a shame. Will also save the book recommendation as I'm not familiar with Brazilian literature and it's always great to have suggestions from an insider : )
Later, I learned that it was a book being taught in schools in Brazil and right-wing people protested about that. Gladly, it only served to make the book more famous, sell many copies and even be translated. 😄
About the movie I’m Still Here, the information I have is that it will only be released in Belgium February 26th. Maybe it’s a similar date in the UK.
Oh very interesting background info on the book, now I’m definitely intrigued. I’ve been checking release dates for I’m still here but they have changed so hopefully it’ll get here around the same time as in Belgium 🤞
I would have thought Sonia Braga had already won something like that, but looking her up it appears she got a couple of Golden Globes nominations (Kiss of the Spider Woman), but no wins.
I know awards are important to a lot of people, but sometimes the why of a particular award is fairly clear. One factor is simply right movie at the right time. I suppose Shakespeare in Love was that movie in 1999, inevitably sweeping along a bunch of other awards too. Great ensemble cast (Judy Dench, Geoffrey Rush), etc. I never saw it, but recall how a lot of people were quite enthusiastic about that movie.
Because of Shakespeare’s importance to all things English, it probably also got a boost just from being associated with Shakespeare.
I haven’t seen Central Station, but looking at the list of other 1999 nominees’ movies, I realize I haven’t seen any of those either.
From the number of nominations, I would say the movie to beat this year is Emilia Pérez. That probably doesn’t bode well for Torres. I wouldn’t be surprised if both Gascón (lead) and Saldana (supporting) win in their categories. Everybody has always liked Zoe Saldana — that probably helps boost the movie’s other nominations. (Also, Hollywood always loves it when actors pivot to more “serious” roles, as both Saldana and Selena Gomez did in this movie.)
But yeah, awards can seem strange sometimes. I’m always surprised how few Grammys The Beatles and Bob Dylan won back in their 60s heyday. Dylan’s first win didn’t come until 1973 as part of George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh album. Yet the guy got the Nobel in this century, and they’re still making documentaries about The Beatles. But if you look at who they lost to back in the day, those were pretty good musicians too.
Hi Frank! You are right that awards are super weird and not so reliable to decide what is good and what is not. I honestly don’t feel like Torres will win, it’s probably going to be Demi Moore or Gascón as you said. I can only hope that she does, but it’s indeed quite difficult.
Thank you for writing this!
This film and actress deserve all the accolades and more. I see her face and eyes before me after watching it today.
Feel haunted by the film, it has been a long time since a movie made such an impression on me, has not left my mind after leaving the cinema.
As a woman, a wife, a mother, a person from a country with a history of oppression like a quilt of human tragedy, it pierced through my heart and floored me.
Cinematically it is utterly beautiful, graceful, art, far above and beyond what the contemporary is swimming in.
It doesn’t feel like a film, it feels painfully real. It’s impossible not to fall in love with this family and feel like your rib cage is crushing inside for them. A must-see masterpiece!
Wow! Amazing words, thanks for this!!!
Unfortunately, I haven’t watched it yet. It will only be released here in Belgium on February 26 😭😭
I can’t wait to see it. 100% of chance of crying.
I'm waiting for the film to be released in the UK as I've heard great things about it, so your post is very timely! Brazil is a country with a fascinating story and unfortunately not enough movies made there manage to make it to English-speaking countries, which is a shame. Will also save the book recommendation as I'm not familiar with Brazilian literature and it's always great to have suggestions from an insider : )
I actually discovered the book The dark side of skin through https://marthaadams.substack.com
Later, I learned that it was a book being taught in schools in Brazil and right-wing people protested about that. Gladly, it only served to make the book more famous, sell many copies and even be translated. 😄
About the movie I’m Still Here, the information I have is that it will only be released in Belgium February 26th. Maybe it’s a similar date in the UK.
Oh very interesting background info on the book, now I’m definitely intrigued. I’ve been checking release dates for I’m still here but they have changed so hopefully it’ll get here around the same time as in Belgium 🤞
I would have thought Sonia Braga had already won something like that, but looking her up it appears she got a couple of Golden Globes nominations (Kiss of the Spider Woman), but no wins.
I know awards are important to a lot of people, but sometimes the why of a particular award is fairly clear. One factor is simply right movie at the right time. I suppose Shakespeare in Love was that movie in 1999, inevitably sweeping along a bunch of other awards too. Great ensemble cast (Judy Dench, Geoffrey Rush), etc. I never saw it, but recall how a lot of people were quite enthusiastic about that movie.
Because of Shakespeare’s importance to all things English, it probably also got a boost just from being associated with Shakespeare.
I haven’t seen Central Station, but looking at the list of other 1999 nominees’ movies, I realize I haven’t seen any of those either.
From the number of nominations, I would say the movie to beat this year is Emilia Pérez. That probably doesn’t bode well for Torres. I wouldn’t be surprised if both Gascón (lead) and Saldana (supporting) win in their categories. Everybody has always liked Zoe Saldana — that probably helps boost the movie’s other nominations. (Also, Hollywood always loves it when actors pivot to more “serious” roles, as both Saldana and Selena Gomez did in this movie.)
But yeah, awards can seem strange sometimes. I’m always surprised how few Grammys The Beatles and Bob Dylan won back in their 60s heyday. Dylan’s first win didn’t come until 1973 as part of George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh album. Yet the guy got the Nobel in this century, and they’re still making documentaries about The Beatles. But if you look at who they lost to back in the day, those were pretty good musicians too.
Hi Frank! You are right that awards are super weird and not so reliable to decide what is good and what is not. I honestly don’t feel like Torres will win, it’s probably going to be Demi Moore or Gascón as you said. I can only hope that she does, but it’s indeed quite difficult.