Cinema
Hour of the Star
A hora da estrela
Suzana Amaral · 1986
Synopsis
Macabéa, a half-illiterate young migrant from the Nordeste, lives in São Paulo, where she works as a typist in a small firm and shares a wretched room with three other women. With no ambition other than to be loved, she starts going out with Olímpico, a metalworker. Her colleague Glória, for her part, nurtures her own plans after a visit to a fortune-teller. Macabéa's life remains ordinary and empty: she reacts to others more than she acts.
Context
Adapted from Clarice Lispector's short novel, the film is the first fiction feature of its director, who wrote it with Alfredo Oroz. According to A União, the shoot lasted twenty-eight days on thirty-five millimetre, and the actors received the script only shortly beforehand, without having to learn it. Marcélia Cartaxo, who came from the theatre group Terra de Cajazeiras, in Paraíba, was persuaded to come to São Paulo by eight letters from the director. José Dumont plays Olímpico and Fernanda Montenegro the fortune-teller.
Who it is for
A film of ninety-six minutes, in colour, centred on a character who endures more than she chooses.
Prizes and reception
Silver Bear for Best Actress at Berlin in 1986 for Marcélia Cartaxo, and the main prizes at the Brasília festival; re-released in a restored print in 2024.
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