How to Draw a Perfect Circle
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| How to Draw a Perfect Circle | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Marco Martins |
| Screenplay by | Marco Martins Goncalo M. Tavares |
| Starring | Rafael Morais Daniel Duval Joana de Verona Beatriz Batarda |
| Music by | Bernardo Sassetti |
Production company | |
Release dates |
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Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | Portugal |
| Languages | French Portuguese |
How to Draw a Perfect Circle (Portuguese: Como Desenhar um Círculo Perfeito) is a 2009 Portuguese drama film directed by Marco Martins and starring Rafael Morais, Daniel Duval, Joana de Verona, Beatriz Batarda, and Albano Jeronimo. Its plot revolves around a young man named Guilherme and his sister Sofia who grow up sharing experiences and slowly discovering their sexuality. The thing that Sofia doesn't know is how far Guilherme will go to keep her inside his own perverse, dark and perfect circle.
Cast
- Rafael Morais
- Daniel Duval
- Joana de Verona[1]
- Beatriz Batarda
- Lourdes Norberto
Synopsis
Guilherme (Rafael Morais) and his sister, Sofia (Joana de Verona), live in their grandmother's mansion, occasionally looked in on by their unconventional mom (Beatriz Batarda). Their dad, Paul (Daniel Duval), returns to Portugal from Paris, but he is a French intellectual devoid of parenting skills. Sofia promised Guilherme that when she was ready, he would have the dubious privilege of taking her virginity. The randy young man starts getting impatient, unable to satisfy himself any longer with masturbating by her side. When he spies on his sister apparently having sex with another guy, he feels deeply betrayed. His emotional maelstrom is further exacerbated by the news of their grandmother's death. As their mother decides to sell the ancestral mansion – another betrayal – Guilherme moves in with Paul. That doesn't work out very well either, and once again he's reduced to self-gratification, this time while watching his father having sex with a prostitute. Just before this scene, while father and son play Tic-Tac-Toe, Paul remarks that Guilherme can draw a perfect circle but always loses the game. The line is a long time coming, and by then, any meaningful emotional resonance has been lost. There's an oddly backward-looking quality to the entire film, as Martins emulates Godard and Co. (the siblings watch "Band of Outsiders"), but in a way that feels attenuated and false; even the decor screams French cinephilia. Paul is almost a parody of a French intellectual, while his son's naive reticence as well as unnatural predilections are anything but charming. So the characters look yearningly, smoke a lot of cigarettes, flick through Virginia Woolf and walk in the rain – it's like "The Dreamers" without the magnetic personalities. Some marvelously unexpected images in the first third, like an overhead shot of Guilherme between beach and ocean's edge, remind us that there is genuine talent here. Scenes often start with slow pans from above or below, and crepuscular lighting is maintained for a maximum amount of dark spaces. Art direction inside the mansion would appeal to an early 21st-century version of Miss Havisham's house, with tonalities kept to a dun-colored dreariness. Songs by Jacques Brel, Leo Ferre, and others further the French feel.
Reception
Bernardo Sassetti won the Award for Best Music at the 5th Festival de Cinema de Países de Língua Portuguesa.[2]
References
- ^ Marta Martins Silva (5 February 2012). "Joana de Verona: "Este País não é para novos"". Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese). Cofina. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
- ^ ""Morrer Como um Homem" vence 5º CINEPORT". TVI24 (in Portuguese). Media Capital. 27 September 2011. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2012.