Fragile as the World

Rita Azevedo Gomes's 2001 Portuguese film follows two young people in love. Vera and João can find no room for their relationship in this life; they move away from home and try to build a space of their own in the forest. The film does not tell a realistic escape. The dialogue is literary, the movements ceremonial and the setting close to abstract; the narrative presents their refusal of the world as a stance and does not explain its reasons. Azevedo Gomes makes few films and is bound to form. The cinematography is painterly, with light and colour composition brought forward in every frame. The cast is young and the playing deliberately distanced. Who it's for: those who like Portuguese cinema and formalist love stories. Who it's not for: viewers wanting psychological grounding; the film never explains its characters' decisions.