Advertising

The Seattle Times Company

NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWsource | Free Classifieds | seattletimes.com

The Seattle Times

Movies


Our network sites seattletimes.com | Advanced

Originally published Friday, February 22, 2008 at 12:00 AM

E-mail article     Print view

In "Alice's House," an overlooked woman takes a stand

"Alice's House," with Carla Ribas, Berta Zemel, Vinicius Zinn, Zécarlos Machado. Directed by Chico Teixeira, from a screenplay by Teixeira...

3 stars "Alice's House," with Carla

Ribas, Berta Zemel, Vinicius Zinn, Zécarlos Machado. Directed by Chico Teixeira, from a screenplay by Teixeira, Julio Pessoa,

Sabina Anzuategui and Marcelo Gomes. 90 minutes. Not rated; for mature audiences (contains nudity, language). In Portuguese with English subtitles. Varsity.

With an elderly live-in mother, a trio of selfish young-adult sons and a taxi-driver husband who's cheating on her, Alice (Carla Ribas) is a Brazilian woman "of a certain age," well past her prime but entirely deserving of the physical and emotional satisfactions that have faded from her daily existence. Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?" could be the theme song of her life as a manicurist in São Paulo, where she lives with the nagging fear that her sexuality is being slowly extinguished.

In a remarkably assured, no-frills feature debut, Brazilian documentarian Chico Teixeira draws a vivid portrait of marital and familial dysfunction in "Alice's House," where female desires take a back seat to the subtle cruelties of male entitlement. Through careful observation of quiet, unadorned details of human behavior, we bear intimate witness to Alice's desperate need for validation, which remains elusive in a small apartment full of self-centered males.

Where a less-sensitive director might have favored histrionic melodrama, Teixeira's simple, matter-of-fact approach feels completely authentic, as if his camera were an invisible occupant of Alice's less-than-happy home, never missing a fleeting moment of emotional revelation. In delivering those moments, Ribas is almost miraculously in tune with her director.

When a former lover appears with kind words and gifts, Alice latches on to potential romance with justified enthusiasm; when you've felt betrayed for years, hope is the greatest aphrodisiac. And if that hope should prove to be misguided, you can hardly blame Alice for pursuing it anyway. She's an optimist of the heart, doing her best to battle the pessimism of the heartless.

— Jeff Shannon, Special to The Seattle Times

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Movies headlines...

E-mail article Print view      Share:    Digg     Newsvine

advertising

At a Theater Near You: At Fremont Outdoor Movies, "Pee-wee's Big Adventure"

Top 10 films

Movie review: Well-acted 'Humpday' delivers fresh take on friendship

Movie review: "Brüno" struts his stuff to hilariously expose intolerance

Movie review: In 'The Hurt Locker,' a complicated hero addicted to the rush of war

Advertising

Video

AP Video

Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech

Marketplace

 
Most read
Most commented
Most e-mailed
 
 
Advertising