FILMS/
LOVE FOR SALE: SUELY IN THE SKY
O céu de suely
New Directors
Brazil/Germany/France/Portugal, 2006, 90 minutes
SHOWTIMES
Fri, May 4 / 09:45 / Kabuki / LOVE04K
Mon, May 7 / 06:15 / Kabuki / LOVE07K
Thu, May 10 / 09:10 / PFA / LOVE10P
CREDITS
- dir
-
Karim Aïnouz
- prod
-
Walter Salles, Mauricio Andrade Ramos, Hengameh Panahi
- scr
-
Mauricio Zacharias, Karim Aïnouz, Felipe Bragança
- cam
-
Walter Carvalho
- editor
-
Isabela Monteira de Castro, Tina Baz le Gal
- mus
-
Berna Ceppas, Kamal Kassin, João Nabuco
- cast
-
Hermila Guedes, Maria Menezes, Zezita Matos, João Miguel, Georgina Castro
- source
-
Strand Releasing, 6140 West Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232 FAX: 310-836-7510 EMAIL: david@strandreleasing.com
Karim Aïnouz blew away viewers with his first feature, Madame Sãta (SFIFF 2003), a stylized tale of the infamous sexual outlaw. His sophomore effort, Love for Sale: Suely in the Sky, similarly explores Brazil’s fringe dwellers and the ways in which self-expression—physical, sexual, emotional—reveals and masks inner identities and truths. After living in São Paulo for two years, Hermila returns to the vast and expansive rural landscape of her youth, waiting for her young boyfriend, the father of her newborn son, to follow. Time passes slowly and eagerness fades to sorrow as Hermila realizes that he has no intention of joining her, but she has a feisty, restless spirit and refuses to be crushed. Seizing life on her own terms, Hermila sets up a raffle, first of some whiskey and soon of her own body, taking on the seductive titular name and promising a night of paradise to the winner. Without any of the moral pandering often found in movies about prostitution, Aïnouz depicts Hermila as a proud and uninhibited nonconformist who willingly explores the breadth and limitations of her own sexuality. In doing so, she blossoms from a dependent girl into a strong and liberated young woman. Beautifully shot, and imbued with nostalgia for real romance, Aïnouz’s stirring film intimately involves viewers in Hermila’s story. Hermila Guedes is sensational in a difficult role that calls for plenty of physical and emotional nakedness. Whether hanging out at a karaoke bar with her friend Georgina, enjoying a quick fling with biker João or trying to calm her crying baby, Hermila (both the actress and the character) is a down-to-earth wonder who lights up the sky.
—Robert O’Shaughnessy
West Coast Premiere. Sponsored by Joie de Vivre Hotels, Hotel Bijou and Delta Air Lines.