I was really disappointed in Vitalina Varela. It has been touted as a great film for many months now, and critics have really fallen for it. But I didn't understand its bold theatricality. Costa chooses to light everything as if we're on a theatre set. It's all dark surroundings and spotlights. People move slowly and speak slowly and quietly, and I'm just not sure why. It felt stylish to me but oppressive. I assume both are intended, but I just don't get it. In the last five minutes of the film, Costa opens things up and we are outside and the wind is blowing, and we are no longer in a theatre. This I understood and enjoyed.
It's funny, I really love theatre but when a movie plays up a theatricality without telling me why or acknowledging it, I often feel very frustrated.
Vitalina Varela is streaming on the Criterion Channel
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