The Venice Film Festival (VFF) is famously renowned as the world’s oldest film festival, heralded as one of the most prestigious film festivals across the globe. The 2023 edition of the VFF paints a vivid picture of the festival’s sustains significance and evolution in an ever-dynamic realm of film production.
Situated at the Venice Lido, the VFF offers a serene atmosphere far detached from the bustling city life, thus artistically positioning the festival as a confluence of filmmaking and the natural world.
The film industry characteristically changes, evolves, and transforms, inducing viewers towards a paradigm shift in their outlook and sense of comprehension. One filmmaker who has masterfully encapsulated this evolution is Nara Normande, with her felicitous movie, “Heartless.”
“Heartless” (Sem Coração), which has its world premiere in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival, delving into the profound realm of adolescence seen through Tamara’s eyes, portrays a resonating depiction of teenagers’ challenges and metamorphosis.
The Brazilian team, Nara Normande and Tio’s short film of the same name in 2014 Cannes Film Festival, which won the Illy Award for Best Short at Directors’ Fortnight, served as the inspiration for their movie.
In Brazil’s northeastern coast, summer 1996, before heading to Brasilia for her studies, Tamara is taking advantage of her final few weeks in her home fishing community. One day, she learns about a teenage girl who goes by the moniker “Heartless” due to a scar on her chest. Tamara develops a strong fascination to this enigmatic girl throughout the summer.
According to the filmmakers, Nara’s own childhood experiences in Guaxuma, a beach in Alagoas, one of the most underdeveloped areas in Brazil, served as the basis for Tamara’s voyage.
“Heartless is a film with fantastical elements and a strong documentary background, which we believe depicts aspects rooted in Brazilian society and at the same time invites the viewer to dive in an experience of love, mystery, violence, and beauty.” Nara Normande said.
“Heartless” unfolds the tale of teenagers ingrained in their unique world, tested, and shaped by their experiences in a manner that correlates with the broader theme of puberty. The film makes a stark commentary on the impact of societal norms on the maturation of the adolescence, subtly mirrored through Tamara’s evolution.
The film’s brilliance lies in its metaphoric complexity unpacked through Normande’s delicate craftsmanship and storytelling prowess. Normande is not only a storyteller but a thought-provoking innovator whose intricate layers of symbolism induce a deeper level of contemplation. The film encompasses several conflicting elements: vulnerability and strength, suppression and rebellion, fear and courage, all carefully intertwined within the characters, especially the protagonist, Tamara.
Tamara, as a character, serves as a vivid canvas reflecting the various hues of teenage life, embodying the struggles and triumphs teens face in their transitional phase. Normande has artistically leveraged the character to project a microscopic view into the unexplored corners of adolescence: the raging hormonal changes, the need for acceptance, sexual discoveries, the overwhelming confusion, and lurking insecurities.
putting some teenagers in a rural costal area, Normande cultivates a unnique narrative of the unadulterated humans yearning to explore the realms of life, from their own body to the essence of love and loss. Tamara is the one who transcends the typical mental bounds to pursue her identity—what an adolescent strives for—across the diverse range of experiences.
On the other side of the coin, mysterious “heartless” in the masculine world of fishing depicts a thought-provoking character in which the audiences witness human neverendingly struggle for survival. Besides, the intricate layers of intimacy and love between “Tamara” and “Heartless” narratives has been expertly portrayed. Along with the other lads, Nara Normande expertly questions freedom, sex, identity, and the geographical restrictions that characters are enforced by.
The director’s approach to the narrative is not restricted to presenting a story but encourages viewers to reassess their perspectives. The juxtaposition of contrasting elements throughout the film suggests that adolescence is not a singular experience but a spectrum of emotions, adventures, and tribulations.
Normande couples all the elements with artistic cinematography. The longshots of the pleasant summer sceneries around the beach and sea, the meticulous close-ups on the youngsters bewildered faces, and camera movements through the depth of water – as diving into the hidden emotion buried under the surface of life – each effectively serves the tale.
Heartless is as much a tale of self-discovery as it reflects the nature of love. Normande skillfully explores the various forms of relationships – familial, romantic, and platonic – and delves into the complexities and vulnerabilities that come with them. Through Tamara’s eyes, we witness both the beauty and pain of love, and how it can leave an indelible mark on one’s heart.
In some scenes of the film Normande explores Jungian Psychology by bringing thorough a whale in Tamara’s dream and on the beach to represent wisdom, transformation, and knowledge of both life and death. The director’s skill in symbolism is exemplary.
Nara Normande’s “Heartless” could be seen as a cinematic exploration of the turbulent journey of adolescence. The film, with its intricate layers of symbolism and complex narrative, invokes a spectrum of emotions, further amplified by the masterful direction of Normande. “Heartless” leaves a lasting impression, propelling viewers towards introspection and newfound perspective.
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