Every family is different, every family is the same. Set in Brazil, this is a story that could take place anywhere. Told over a period of less than a month, it's a snapshot of all the good and bad and wonderful that makes up family life.
Irene (Karine Teles) lives with husband Klaus and their four sons in a crumbling house with dodgy plumbing and a door that locks fast resulting in the family entering and leaving by a ladder up against the window. They are joined by Irene's sister, and her young boy, hiding from the fists of her addict husband. Together they form an unbreakable unit of bickering, loving individuals, with a desire to make life better.
Klaus is a dreamer, full of get rich schemes that never quite work out. Twelve year old Rodrigo is rarely separated from his tuba, and the young twins just want to have fun. When the oldest boy, teenager Fernando, is offered a place in a professional handball team in Germany Irene finds herself torn between hanging on and letting go. A new worry to add to the everyday problems of a mother, wife and sister doing her best for her family.
It's beautifully shot, intimate and warm, and there's a wonderful opening sequence under the titles that encapsulates the togetherness of the group and the humour that comes out of their lives. Meal times, the children playing in the bath, outings to the beach are noisy, chaotic, very real. The messiness of life is all there, and Fernando's sudden chance for success is one more issue to be dealt with, which they face together and individually. It's also very funny at times, unafraid to use moments of slapstick to get the laughs.
Teles (who shares the writing credits) gives us a marvellous central character, so often the dependable one, frequently vulnerable, determined that she will also keep her own identity. A great performance, nuanced, emotional without ever descending into sentimentality, and a range of facial expressiveness that makes words redundant.
There are no big disasters, no real violence, no overblown dramatic moments of spectacle. Just a simple story of family life in all it's confusion and doubt and laughter and love and constant minor difficulties to overcome. And a reminder of what's important in life. Highly recommended.
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