By Tanya Batson-Savage, Staff ReporterAT THE end of Me, You, Them, it is very hard to decide exactly what kind of movie it was. Although it engenders laughter, it seems to take itself too seriously to be dubbed a comedy, while the title 'drama' fits no better.
Additionally, although it involves several lovers and some sexual content, it is by no stretch of the imagination romantic.
Me, You, Them, a Brazilian film written by Elena Soarez and directed by Andrucha Waddington, was shown at Redbones the Blues Café on Saturday evening as a part of the celebration of 'Brazil Day'. For the event, the café also included Brazilian fare in its menu, and there was also a display of Capoeira after the movie.
The best word to describe Me, You, Them is interesting, simply because that word is so ambiguous. Despite the moral issues which attempt to seethe beneath the surface of the movie, Me, You, Them makes no moral declarations. In fact, it steers clear of declarations altogether, leaving the audience to come up with their own ideas, theories and conclusion.
This is in large part what makes the movie interesting. The dull tapestry of the lives of the major characters is simply laid bare, and one is allowed to make of it what they will.
Although it has no real plot to speak of (it is more a sideways progression of action than any real development), Me, You, Them takes the idea of a menage a trois, stretches it to its limits and then breaks it, by adding a fourth member to the household.
DARLENE
Darlene (Regina Case) lives in a quiet, unassuming village. The land is harsh and so is her life. Nonetheless, she is not a woman who is affected by this, as she easily finds reason to laugh. At the beginning of the film, she is seen in a wedding dress, although there is no husband in sight. This state of affairs is never really explained when we again meet her three years later, and there is deliberate effort to not give a face to the father of her first child.
What is particularly interesting about the movie is how Darlene finds one husband and moves to another lover, without necessarily having lost interest in the former. Each man is different. What is most intriguing, however, is that all of them end up living in the same house.
Osias (Lima Duarte), the first husband we meet, is rich (which means he can afford a large mud hut). He is also a very lazy man and does not respect Darlene much. As such, it is not particularly surprising that she turns to the helpful Zezinho (Stenio Garcia), at least it would not have been surprising if Zezhino were not, as Osias described him, not much of a man. Ciro (Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos), the third lover, is very different. He is young, strong and rather goodlooking.
It may be because of her magical powers of getting sons, but she is able to dangle all three men, though the movie does not suggest that she is insensitive. Additionally, much effort is not expended in painting her as a slut either.
What appears to be more interesting is the picture of quiet (and sometimes raunchy) desperation presented in Me You, Them. Constant poverty is a backdrop to the action. The landscape, featuring hard-packed earth, leafless shrubs and cloudless blue skies is often shown. Additionally, the major mode of earning a living seems to be reaping sugarcane, which is depicted as back-breaking work, conducted by men and women.
At times interesting, and at others funny, Me, You, Them, never really rises to brilliance, but it is certainly engaging.
