The movie
The Book of Delights
Set in Rio, this compelling character study focuses on a complicated, intelligent, freedom-loving teacher who picks up men and women on a whim but is always searching, begins a stop-start relationship with arrogant but likeable philosophy professor Ulisses...
Description
The reputation of Clarice Lispector, one of Brazil’s most fêted writers, has skyrocketed in the last ten years, and now director and co-writer Marcela Lordy has made a film as
thorny, erotic, and complex as Lispector’s writing demands. Set in Rio, this compelling character study focuses on a complicated, intelligent, freedom-loving, slightly damaged woman not unlike Lispector herself: Lóri (the mesmerizing Simone Spoladore, Best Actress at BAFICI), a teacher who picks up men and women on a whim but is always searching. Then she begins a stop-start relationship with arrogant but likeable philosophy professor Ulisses (Javier Drolas)… There is a lot to ike here inaddition to Spoladore’s spot-on performance - scenes with her students are a delight; a visit from her chastising brother has truth; her heartbreak at the early loss of her mother (Lispector suffered the same thing) is felt. That the film is also so visually rich makes this a sumptuous and captivating work.