PRIVATE DESERT (DESERTO PARTICULAR)

ALI MURITIBA | BRAZIL | 2021 | 120 MIN | PORTUGUESE S.-T.EN.

Fleeing the backlash of a violent outburst, Daniel drives 2,000 miles across Brazil through sweltering temps to locate the love of his life. But there’s a catch: he’s never met her, she has cut off all contact, and she isn’t exactly the “Sara” she says she is.

Daniel (Antonio Saboia) has the instincts and pugilistic features of a boxer, all torqued-up machismo with a soft underside he lets slip in his playful caretaking of his father (Luthero Almeida) and the panting messages he sends his online lover. Upon arriving in Bahía, he plasters the town with grainy photos, desperate to find Sara (Pedro Fasanaro) and sort out why she has ghosted him. With a clever perspectival shift, we come to know the object of his affection more intimately and her reasons for concealment, though she underestimates Daniel’s need for her. Accomplished writer-director Aly Muritiba helms this naturalistic drama, his veteran touch imbuing intimate, electric moments with the gravitas and burnished tones of classic film, the actors allowed to inhabit real forms, cheeks sprayed with acne, quarrelsome hearts straining for understanding, even when they’re unable to fathom salvation.

screening at Cinéma Impérial | NOVEMBER 20TH 4PM

ONLINE (November 21st to 25th)