12 December 2025
This week we have 3 independent art films from Brazil, U.S. and Iceland. They take us into unknown territories and share the individual lives of characters from remote areas that afford us a world view of varied experiences. That is the gift of worthwhile cinema.
LES VOYAGES DE TEREZA (U Ultimo Azul/The Blue Trail) **** (vo Portuguese)
This cautionary fable (somewhat like the 2022 Japanese film “Plan 75” about state-supported euthanasia from age 75) is about Tereza, a feisty 77-year-old woman who refuses to go to the planned retirement colonies dictated by the Brazilian government for the elderly.
Her story starts off as a dystopian account but turns into a joyous, surrealistic voyage of risks and discoveries that opens up new adventures for this simple, yet curious woman who refuses to be herded like sheep in her final years. She takes off into the Amazon, meeting a boatman who introduces her to amazing visions and teaches her how to steer a boat on the great river. There is magical realism in this wonderful escape from state authority through Tereza’s fearless journey down the river where she also finds a new relationship with Roberta, a con artist who sells electronic Bibles from her boat. You’ve got to see it to believe it.
Here’s an exciting yet at the same time peaceful, undulating odyssey into the quest for freedom, beautifully filmed by Brazilian new wave director, Gabriel Mascaro. And Denise Weinberg as Tereza is utterly realistic and charming. Who says ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’?
Among other awards, the film obtained the Grand Jury Prize at the 2025 Berlinale.
REBUILDING ***
This film by Max-Walker Silverman is best described by its title – rebuilding lives after a natural disaster.
It’s about the plight of ordinary people in Colorado after wildfires have completely destroyed their homes and livelihoods, with minimal help from insurance companies or the government. These decent people who come together in a makeshift community of temporarily-loaned trailers are like the wanderers from the Oscar-winning film “Nomadland” from 2022.
The film enters their lives through one man, Dusty, brilliantly portrayed by British actor Josh O’Connor (as Prince Charles in “The Crown” and in Guadagnino’s “Challengers”), who had a large ranch, a family and now has nothing. It’s his gentle portrayal of a divorced father that ties all the characters of this slow film together and makes its quietness so human and beautiful. His little daughter, played by Lily LaTorre, is also very moving in her childish maturity.
Within great loss there seems to be resilience and emotional honesty here. It will get under your skin and make you ponder, especially with the film’s stunning, barren scenery and occasional music.
L’AMOUR QUI NOUS RESTE (THE LOVE THAT REMAINS) (**1/2 (vo Icelandic)
Let’s call this film love and relationships, Nordic style. It’s Iceland, it’s cold and the human connections feel accordingly. It’s about a woman and a man who are divorced, but still on decent terms with each other. Possibly because of their three children, who seem pretty well adjusted. And an eccentric dog.
The wife is an artist who works with metal and rust and is waiting for an influential gallery owner who may be interested in her abstract works. The husband, a commercial fisherman, is somehow around, does errands and odd jobs for his family, but still gets sent away when night falls – and it’s awfully cold outside.
Somehow all these silences and dispassionate relationships don’t make sense to me. Yet there is joy, freedom of movement and weird happenings within this family, and with the vast nature around them. It’s quirky, it’s at times surreal, it’s Icelandic.
Superb **** Very Good *** Good ** Mediocre * Miserable – no stars
By Neptune
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen reviews film extensively for publications in Switzerland. She views 4 to 8 films a week and her aim is to sort the wheat from the chaff for readers.
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