Synopsis
When he falls in love with the beautiful and mysterious Anaíra, Dalberto stops working as a policeman and becomes a sailor. The couple lives in the house which Dalberto shares with his two brothers, by the bank of river Negro. However, when Dalberto is obliged to risk himself on a long trip upriver, forbidden desires start to surface. As Dalmo, the older brother, struggles to control the attraction he feels for his sister-in- law, Anaíra and Armando, the youngest, become closer. The return of Dalberto gathers under the same roof three brothers in love with the same woman.
Where to watch River of Desire
Sérgio Machado, from Bahia, has created a movie that is a slice of life in Itacoatiara, a town in the state of Amazonas. Based on a short story by author Milton Hatoum (extended in a partnership between the director and the writer), Sérgio creates a timeless life of three brothers whose routines are altered by the arrival of Anaíra, a local resident.
The fingerprint left by Sérgio is a welcome reminder of his debut feature, Lower City (2005), where similar themes were present. The collaboration with the acting coach Fátima Toledo is also repeated in this feature, bringing the characters to a degree of viscerality that usually marks the coach’s work.
In the movie, it’s not possible to swim against the current of desire, like the inevitable fate in a Greek tragedy. As defined by the director himself, the more the male characters fight against the fear of the suffering that marked their father’s life, the more they move towards the inevitable. The attempt to escape repetition is just a longer road.
The similar themes between Lower City and River of Desire demonstrate Sérgio’s predilection for the marginalized, like a cinematic Plínio Marcos (a Brazilian playwright) who explores relationships through the unspoken. The subtext is added to a quasi-sobrenaturality, which emerges as a negative space caused by the absence of the mother and the accumulated consequences of not dealing with it.
Why we recommend it
Director Sérgio Machado continues his exploration of the marginalized, which has been going on since Lower City (2005), through a tragic story set in Amazonas, a region that deserves to have its identity and landscapes portrayed in more and more films. The casting of the leading quartet is spot-on and the actors were coached by veteran Fátima Toledo (Central Station, 1998, City of God, 2002, Elite Squad, 2007).
Credits
- Original Title: O Rio do Desejo
- Rating: 16
- Genre: Drama
- Runtime: 1h 47 min
- Release year: 2022
- Country: Brazil
- Production company: Gullane Entretenimento
- Distributor: Gullane Entretenimento
- Director: Sérgio Machado
- Producers: Rodrigo Castellar, Caio Gullane, Fabiano Gullane, Pablo Torrecillas, André Novis e Sérgio Machado
- Writers: Sérgio Machado, George Walker Torres, Maria Camargo e Milton Hatou
- Cast: Sophie Charlotte, Daniel De Oliveira, Gabriel Leone e Rômulo Braga
- Casting: Marcia Godinho
- Acting Coach: Fátima Toledo
- Cinematography: Adrian Teijido, Abc
- Production Design: Adrian Cooper
- Costume Design: Masta Ariane
- Makeup: Sonia Penna
- Sound: Luciano Raposo
- Sound Design: Caio Guerin e Eduardo Virmond Lima
- Original Soundtrack: Beto Villares
- Editing: Marcelo Junqueira, Amc, Felipe Duarte Ferpa e Ricardo Farias
