It would be a huge disservice to filmmaker Pedro Costa and his new project “Vitalina Varela” to just explain the plot of his new film in simple words. The filmmaker has never been one to make simple films. And to watch his films is more about the experience than just waiting for the next plot point. This is just part of what makes Costa’s work so special.
With “Vitalina Varela” arriving in theaters this weekend, we’re excited to give our readers an exclusive clip from the film and poster, which just gives a taste at the atmosphere and beauty you’ll experience watching Costa’s latest work.
READ MORE: ‘Vitalina Varela’ Trailer: Pedro Costa Tackles Grief & Ghosts Of The Past
Of course, “Vitalina Varela” does have a plot, and it’s not terribly difficult to explain. The film follows the title character (played by non-professional actress, Vitalina Varela, reprising her role from the director’s film, “Horse Money”) as she leaves her home in Cape Verde to fly to Portugal after the death of her estranged husband. The couple was separated years prior due to economic circumstances, and now Vitalina must enter this new world to take care of his affairs, as well as attempt to begin a new life for herself.
The film debuted at last year’s Locarno Film Festival, where “Vitalina Varela” earned the coveted Golden Leopard (Best Film) and the Best Actress Award. In addition, the film toured the film festival circuit, chosen to screen at events such as TIFF, NYFF, and this year’s Sundance.
“Vitalina Varela” will arrive at Film at Lincoln Center tomorrow. You can watch the exclusive clip below.
Here’s the synopsis:
Portuguese director Pedro Costa has continually returned in his films to the Fontainhas neighborhood, a shantytown on the outskirts of Lisbon that’s home to largely immigrant communities. Not merely a chronicler of the poor and dispossessed, Costa renders onscreen characters that exist somewhere between real and fictional, the living and the dead. His latest, a film of deeply concentrated beauty, stars nonprofessional actor Vitalina Varela in a truly remarkable performance. Reprising and expanding upon her haunted supporting role from Costa’s Horse Money, she plays a Cape Verdean woman who has come to Fontainhas for her husband’s funeral after being separated from him for decades due to economic circumstance, and despite her alienation begins to establish a new life there. The grief of the present and the ghosts of the past commingle in Costa’s ravishing chiaroscuro compositions, a film of shadow and whisper that might be the director’s most visually extraordinary work.
