Mata atlantica

Mata Atlantica is the Portuguese name given to the forest extending over more than a million square kilometres of Brazilian territory. Dramatically reduced in size since the most recent deforestation, today only fragments are left. Sheltered within a park located in the heart of Sao Paulo like a secret left open to the public, is the strange statue of a wild animal, perhaps the deity known as Pan. A young girl is called upon to unravel the mystery of this enigmatic sculpture: first, through her young lover, played by the young Brazilian film-maker Gregorio Graziosi, whose messy hair resembles the horns of a satyre; he finds her in a movie theatre where a French black and white film is playing; then, through an elegant and discreet elderly lady whom we come across in the park. This film, where seeing is no guarantee of any protection against the disappearance of what has just appeared, raises the question: which characters are not enchanted beings? The answer is that the forest, like a dark hall, makes deceptions possible. Or rather, it seems to protect the archaic resurgence of an ancient faith, spirits of sites, barely audible divine music, and hidden gods. We reach an understanding that in this sensitive, or even sensual, dream-like and complex manner so characteristic of Nicolas Klotz and Elisabeth Perceval’s films, there’s a lot more at stake than ecology or colonialism. (JPR)