In River of Desire (O rio do desejo), the narrative of passion and revenge runs as thick as blood, while it simultaneously runs the risk of becoming yet another telenovela like the legendary soaps that Brazil’s TV system regularly broadcasts and exports around the world. But the intricate plot allows the film to surface beyond the soap’s conventions and reach a more poetic tone of tragic inevitability, thus becoming a chronicle of a death foretold in the best García Márquez tradition.
Writer-director Sergio Machado is best known for his acclaimed films Lower City (Cidade Baixa, Cannes Prix de la Jeunesse 2005) and The Violin Teacher (Tudo que aprendemos juntos, closing night at Locarno 2015). He also co-wrote Madame Satã by Karim Aïnouz. In Lower City, two friends fall in love with the same woman in Bahia, Machado’s birthplace in the northeast of Brazil. In River of Desire, co-written by Milton Hatoum from his short story “Farewell Captain”, the locations are the modest homes built along the Amazon river and the riverboats that roam its turbulent surface. Hatoum, who was born in Manaus to a family of Lebanese immigrants, adds a fourth angle to the classic love triangle. That complex geometry serves to propel the quartet’s dynamics to its inevitable end. The exuberant Amazon environment adds yet another layer of sensuality to the film.
It only takes seven minutes for River of Desire to deliver its first passionate sexual encounter between Anaíra and Dalberto, a policeman who quits his job to become the captain of his own riverboat. They are played by Sophie Charlotte and Daniel de Oliveira, who have both acted in successful television series and films. The lovers marry and move in with Dalberto’s two brothers, who are single and who instantly lust for their sister-in-law Anaíra. Gabriel Leone plays the older, brooding brother Dalmo, and Rômulo Braga plays Armando, the youngest, a carefree band manager and party animal. Brazil has a thriving soap opera market, driven by media giant Globo Filmes, which is an associate producer of River of Desire. Thankfully, the actors here take the drama to a higher level under Machado’s self-assured direction.
The newlyweds seem at first satisfied with their new business venture, ferrying passengers along the turbulent waters of the world’s largest river. As the plot progresses, the relationships at home become murkier, as the brothers compete for Anaíra’s attention. Anaíra is left alone at home while her husband Dalberto, facing bankruptcy, agrees to ferry an ailing, aging fugitive drug lord to safety in Iquitos, deep in the Peruvian jungle, where the rivers’ tributaries form. This provides more opportunities for sweaty close-ups, as Anaíra begins an affair with her young brother-in-law Armando. The heavy breathing of lovers’ embrace can be heard even through the house’s thin walls and provides a leitmotif as each brother expresses — or represses — his desire.
Adrian Tejido’s cinematography captures the glistening, intimate scenes between lovers in feverish close-ups; he also excels in wider shots of stunning sunsets over the Amazon and Rio Negro rivers, contrasting their vastness with the crowded decks of the riverboats, where passengers rock languidly in their hammocks. The camera dwells on the magnitude of the jungle, as well as the patterns formed by flocks of birds in the sky, a metaphor for saudades, the nostalgia for one’s birthplace, and the inevitable instinct to return home.
Director: Sergio Machado
Screenplay: Sergio Machado, George Walker Torres, Maria Camargo, Milton Hatoum
Cast: Sophie Charlotte, Daniel de Oliveira, Gabriel Leone, Rômulo Braga, Jorge Paz, Coco Chiarella
Producers: Rodrigo Castellar, Pablo Torrecillas, Caio Gullane, Fabiano Gullane, André Novis, Sergio Machado
Cinematography: Adrian Tejido
Editing: Ricardo Farias, Marcelo Junqueira, Felipe Duarte Ferpa
Music: Beto Villares
Sound design: Caio Guerin, Edmundo Virmond Lima
Sound recording: Luciano Raposo
Production companies: TC Filmes, Gullane in association with Globo Filmes, Mar Grande (Brazil)
World Sales: Cinema Management Group
Venue: Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Official competition)
In Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish
107 minutes
