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Director
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Drama
122 minutes
Writer/director Kleber Mendonca Filho recognizes the inherent contradiction that defines Clara, and rather than similarly condemning her, he embraces her in all her thrilling, maddening complexity. In return, he draws a performance from Sonia Braga that’s a crowning achievement in her venerable career—a piece of film acting that’s subtle and stirring in equal measure.
Braga has created a formidable force of nature in Clara: a woman who’s lived a life and loved and lost, but who still leaps at the opportunity to experience the world with real zest and curiosity. So many movies reduce older characters to a series of wacky or awkward moments: Viagra jokes, early-bird dinners, bafflement over social media, that sort of thing. Clara, a retired music critic and the widowed mother of three grown children, balances the wisdom of age with a fervor for staying current, and it’s such a cool and refreshing change.
