“Where the philosopher loses his breath, she [Lispector] continues, even further, beyond all knowledge.” Hélène Cixous
“Every passion is a farewell ceremony and, at the same time, a rebirth.” » Luiz Fernando Carvalho
Taking Clarice Lispector’s novel to the cinema or the theater is not easy and, however, she is one of the most visited authors by filmmakers from both disciplines [i]. The difficulty arises from the fact that, beyond the existential crisis of the protagonist, what happens are pure ruminations; pure philosophy, if you will. lot of text that necessarily, but not only, has to be transferred to the screen or the stage in a verbal display that could go against the very essence of cinema or theater. It could, but not in the hands of Carvalho, who has turned the novel into a wonderfully cinematic piece. A jewel, if one manages to go beyond that first strangeness caused by a story with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, with absolute close-ups and a thickness of words -and, sometimes, also of image- that it is necessary to go through.