You fall in love quickly with the sunny, fearless heroine of Paloma, an illiterate farm worker in rural Brazil who dreams of getting married to her boyfriend Zé in a real church wedding with all the frills. But like Manzoni’s classic melodrama The Betrothed, there’s an obstacle to this innocent, lawful wish to consecrate young love, a hurdle – yes — involving political power that seems insurmountable. The Catholic Church won’t marry a transgender woman like Paloma, and the Pope himself confirms the official veto.
This doesn’t stop our heroine, however, who continues to dream of marching down the aisle in a white dress on the arm of her beloved. The radiant smile of Kika Sena, in the title role, bestows joyful hope to all who know her: both the friends from her previous life working in an out-of-town brothel, and her current underpaid co-workers on a papaya plantation. Her Catholic faith also sustains her, despite the Pope’s disappointing answer to her request he allow her marriage to Zé. When asked by her skeptical girlfriend Rikely (Wescla Vasconcellos) if a person can really change, she replies with sincerity, “yes”.
Inspired by a true story, Paloma (in world premiere at the Munich Film Festival) is both the portrait of a very special person, and a heart-wrenching demonstration of the prejudice and hatred that society reserves for those who are different, particularly where sexual identity is involved. Though everyone in the small town of Saloa knows Paloma was born a man and transitioned to being a woman, her live-in relationship with good-looking construction worker Zé (Ridson Reis) seems to pass uncriticized. It is only when an official institution like the Church comes into the picture and the media appears that the community feels threatened.
Paloma and Zé, who she calls her husband, live in a breezy apartment with their much-loved 6-year-old daughter Jenifer (a sparkling Shirley Temple debut by Anita de Souza Macedo). The child is left with a friend of Paloma’s when they go to work. But as the story develops, one begins to wonder who Jenifer’s biological parents could be. The reveal is cannily saved for a plausible, bittersweet ending that is strangely reconciling despite its pain.
One of those indomitable women who won’t take no for an answer, Paloma brushes aside Zé’s doubts about their marriage. He seems genuinely smitten with her but only dimly aware of the possible consequences of such a social transgression. “This is your thing,” he says as he drives her on his bike to meet a rebel priest willing to perform the ceremony in a church. The priest, who is living with a young woman, has no problem agreeing to Paloma’s request, but notes they will have to move his altar and holy statues into Saloa. And that will be expensive.
Brazilian director Marcelo Gomes (Cinema, Aspirin and Vultures; Waiting for the Carnival) is very much in his element in this fictional story with a good deal taken from real life. The screenplay he wrote with Gustavo Campos and Armando Praca wastes no time on details, but wisely sticks close to Paloma’s mood swings as the wedding gets closer. The ending, which includes huge amounts of drama, closes on a sober and impenitent note.
Surrounded by low-key, naturalistic performances, Sena’s free-spirited Paloma stands out all the more strongly. Her face and body are often shot in big close-ups that emphasize the physicality of her presence, especially for the men whose eyes devour her, and highlight her fluid reactions to emotional catastrophe.
The cinematography by Pierre de Kerchove emphasizes eye-catching hot tropical colors, particularly feminine pinks mixed with primaries, though in night scenes they are often blurred in the darkness of intimacy. Though rare, the hilly landscapes of rural Brazil are shot with great pictorial beauty.
Director: Marcelo Gomes
Screenwriters: Gustavo Campos, Marcelo Gomes, Armando Praca
Cast: Kika Sena, Ridson Reis, Ze Maria, Samya De Lavor, Suzy Lopes, Ana Marinho, Wescla Vasconcellos, Patricia Dawson, Nash Laila, Buda Lira, Anita de Souza Macedo
Producers: Nara Aragao, Joao Vieira Jr.
Cinematography: Pierre de Kerchove
Production design: Marcos Pedroso
Costume design: Gabi Campos
Editing: Rita M. Pestana
Music: O Grivo
Sound: Elsa Ferreira
Production companies: Carnaval Filmes (Brazil) in association with Ukbar Filmes (Portugal), Misti Filmes (Brazil), Gullane (Brazil)
World sales: Memento International
Venue: Munich Film Festival (Spotlight)
In Portuguese
104 minutes
