"Praia Formosa" (Julia De Simone, 2024) transcends the conventional bounds of cinema, embracing a form of resistance and reimagining history through an experimental lens. The film, a blend of fiction and documentary, situates itself in the desolate yet textured landscapes of Rio de Janeiro's Pequena África. Its wordless opening, with haunting metallic groans and bubbling water, introduces viewers to the hidden histories that lie beneath the modern cityscape. De Simone deftly navigates the obscured legacy of Brazil’s colonial past, allowing history to seep through the urban spaces like long-buried secrets begging to be uncovered.
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At its core, "Praia Formosa" centers on Muanza (Lucília Raimundo), a woman trafficked from 19th-century Congo into slavery in colonial Brazil. Trapped in a crumbling estate owned by Catarina Corte Real (Maria D’Aires), Muanza’s existence in the dilapidated halls of aristocratic confinement mirrors the Sisyphean struggle of marginalized figures throughout history. Yet, De Simone grants Muanza a unique agency. She defies her oppressor, not only in her rebellion against the mistress who renamed her "Domingas" but also in her eventual transcendence of time itself.
What makes "Praia Formosa" a radical cinematic endeavor is its treatment of time and space. Muanza's escape from the estate and subsequent journey to modern-day Rio de Janeiro is more than a simple narrative transition — it is an act of defiance against the very linearity of history. De Simone’s modernist aesthetic, with foggy landscapes and stark urban imagery, suggests that the violence of colonialism is not just a relic of the past but a force that still shapes the present. The film’s breathtaking moment, when a massive wave destroys Rio’s harbor — the same harbor where slave ships once docked — is a visceral reminder of the devastation wrought by centuries of oppression. It is a symbolic cleansing, a cinematic gesture toward an imagined future unbound by the violent legacies of colonialism.
In one of the film’s most poignant sequences, Muanza encounters a young girl dressed in modern tie-dye clothing, a striking juxtaposition of past and present that underscores the film’s theme of temporal fluidity. Through these interactions, De Simone crafts a speculative world where histories intertwine, and the boundaries of time dissolve, allowing her characters to reclaim their stories in a contemporary context.
De Simone’s filmmaking is a masterclass in critical fabulation, invoking the works of Maria Firmina dos Reis and Pretextato dos Passos e Silva to ground the film’s speculative elements in real, historical acts of resistance. The film’s cryptic use of documentary footage, which examines the lingering marks of slavery in modern Rio, further blurs the line between past and present, fact and fiction.
Ultimately, "Praia Formosa" is a bold proclamation of the interconnectedness of history and the present. Through Muanza’s journey, the film suggests that neither land nor people are truly conquerable, and that the past — no matter how brutally effaced — still holds power in shaping the future. De Simone’s debut feature is not only a cinematic triumph but a vital contribution to the ongoing conversation about historical memory and the potential for liberation through storytelling.
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