-Brian Mendonça
I
wanted to make a film exploring the tension of silence in moments of daily life
between two people.
-Francisco Carvalho*
The old woman stares bleakly through the window
out on to the street below her apartment. She watches intently shrouded by her
curtain as the young woman walks into
the arms of a man waiting for her. She blanches and feels life has passed her
by.
The above is a scene from the movie Quarto em Lisboa / Room in Lisbon showcased
recently at the Centro de Lingua Portuguesa-Camões, Panjim, just across the
ferry wharf. The handful of us who were there, were privileged to witness 11
short films from the New York Portuguese Short Film Festival 2019 at one stretch on
a Sunday evening.
The movie from which the scene was is a taut
thriller giving viewers a close view of the loneliness of an old woman named
Maria. She lives in an apartment in a building in Lisbon but her life is empty.
To defray the living expenses she takes on a lady who is a boarder with her.
The old lady needs the money but she develops an antipathy to the girl.
She is jealous of the girl’s youth and of the
promise that life holds for her. She even looks at the mirror to see how she
looks, compared to the girl. This develops into an obsession and she takes to
drink. Matters get to a head when in the final scene the old lady lurches into
the young woman’s room and appropriates it.
When the young lady returns from her date she is shocked
to see the old lady sleeping in her bed, drunk with an empty glass of wine by
her side.
In the last scene, the young lady repelled by the
old woman’s behaviour decides not to put up with it. She is seen with her
suitcase on the pavement waiting for a bus or some means of transport.
The 16 minute film directed by 29-year-old Francisco
Carvalho beautifully explores the young lady – old woman dynamic. It also films
space intelligently. There is a scene when the young woman sits in the hall –
presumably a common area – but on seeing her, the old woman flinches, unwilling
to give up the perks of privacy.
It is fruitful to examine the extent to which a
person can go to cope with loneliness. Today many live in apartment blocks but
are unaware who our next-door neighbours are.
Modern living has made people apathetic to the
condition of other’s lives. The aged and feeble need care and attention. It is
not unusual to see even seniors committing suicide – sometimes together with
their spouses.
The New York Portuguese short film festival was a
welcome event on the sidelines of the International Symposium on Goa, Cultures,
Languages and Literatures organized by Government College, Quepem and Centro de
Lingua Portuguesa-Camões, Panaji in association with Goa University, Goa
between 21-23 January 2019.
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*https://vimeo.com/224223550. Published in Gomantak Times Weekender, Panaji, Goa on Sunday, 24 February 2019. Still from the film, courtesy arteinstitute.org
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