MUBI

Porquê tanto distanciamento?! Os intérpretes durante o filme NUNCA olham-nos nos olhos.
O que é que leva Vaz e companhia a serem tão introspectivos? O que lhes vai na alma? Nunca o saberemos.
Por vezes o público sente que é a personificação da enfermeira Rute, personagem descontextualizada mas interessada em saber ao fundo o que inquieta os protagonista e isso faz o público sentir-se sujo, até porque é a pilas de um preto que a silencia…

This film is a bleak image-scape featuring three tired-looking young adults in a ghetto of Lisbon. Disaffected perspectives seem to be harder and harder to fend off in today’s world. Or maybe it’s just now getting attention. Either way, it’s definitely a very real and powerful part of humanity and something worth exploring. So, it’s good that Pedro Costa has dedicated a whole trilogy to lost souls.

Observations:

The story seemed secondary to the tone – not always a bad thing, though in this case, I’m not sure it’s done with the utmost grace. I half-felt as though it didn’t matter what happened.

At times, I was happily reminded of Bergman’s work: the patience of the camera, the (lack of) actions of the depressed characters, and the camera framing. However, it was missing, what I feel is, an important part of Bergman – hope or desire for it. Most of the characters in “Ossos” didn’t even seem to desire it; they seemed to crave no resolution per say… maybe just an end to their oblivion?

Motivation and backstory aren’t really given much attention, though that could be because first, the characters’ only real motivation is their constant sense of discontent; also, like i said before, its secondary to the tone. I sometimes felt like whole scenes were left out or left unfinished. Some details about characters come out of the blue and I don’t think it’s ever meant to be about shocking revelations. It unfortunately comes across more like, oh we forgot to mention… this character has kids apparently and this guy is apparently her husband and he has his reasons for suddenly yelling at her at this party. Stuff like that.

A few last thoughts. “Ossos” translates as “Bones.” I could guess at reasons for this title, though they’d all be just guesses. I’d also like to mention that the cinematography is wonderful throughout and does a lot for the film. And what the hell was so funny to the women at the end when they spill the pot of water? The scenes and images are emotionally charged in “Ossos,” but the piece as a whole… some coherency would have done it good.

Note: My qualms may be flawed or missing points. Who knows? I’m human. So, I’m open to considering any comments or messages you might want to send my way. A lot of people love this film and I’d be happy to have reasons to be one of them.

Artistic and sleek breakout film from Portuguese auteur Pedro Costa, following a few depressingly poor slum dwellers through the immediate aftermath of the delivery of an unwanted baby. Costa’s style is deliberately slow, with little movement, dialogue, lighting, characterization, or plot, like a cinema verite documentary composed of static shots and only slightly altered versions of the actors’ true selves (whose own slum was demolished a few years later partly because of the celebrity of this film). This is for serious fans of directors like Liang, Bresson, and Hsien only, and for them Criterion rewards their patience with interviews with Costa and collaborators.