Country: Brazil / Germany
Movie Review: Brazilian filmmaker, Karim Ainouz, can be proud of his past films. “Madame Satã” and “I Travel Because I Have to, I Come Back Because I Love You” were distinguished dramas that elevated his reputation, not only in his country of origin but worldwide. However, his new feature, “Futuro Beach”, starring Wagner Moura (“Tropa de Elite”), Clemens Schick and Jesuíta Barbosa, was more languid than attractive, and more introvert than expansive, never making justice to a potentially interesting plot written by Ainouz and Felipe Bragança (“Heleno”), in their second collaboration after 2006 “Love for Sale”. After an accident that victimized a German citizen in the dangerous waters of Fortaleza’s Futuro beach, Donato (Moura) starts a homosexual relationship with the victim’s close friend, Konrad (Schick). In love, he decides to leave to Berlin with his lover, sacrificing the job of his dreams, and leaving his defenseless younger brother, Ayrton (Barbosa), at his own mercy. Struggling to adapt to a new country and to a new language, immigration revealed to be the most interesting aspect in the film, relegating for second plan the ups and downs of the irregular relationships depicted. Set up in three chapters, the ambiance doesn’t change and the monotony doesn’t go away, not even when Ayrton arrives in Berlin, ready to confront his brother for having let him down. “Futuro Beach” grows tiresome due to a lack of excitement and insistent sexual scenes. The beautiful words by the end, along with the gorgeous images, don’t save the film from some amateurism of processes and frustrating emotional limitations.
