Dois Córregos

The late sixties. The two teenage girls Ana Paula and Lydia and the young woman Teresa, a kind of guardian sister of Ana Paula, spend their holidays on a small farm located in Dois Córregos, an area where three large rivers meet. There they come into contact with Hermes, Ana Paula’s strange and fascinating uncle who was once involved in ultra-left-wing activities. Ana Paula finds out that her uncle is hiding on the farm until he can leave the country. This flashback to the sixties makes up the largest part of the film, that starts in the present when Ana Paula goes to the countryside near Sao Paolo to reclaim the house that once belonged to her parents from its illegal inhabitants. The very versatile Carlos Reichenbach – cameraman and composer as well as director – provides a special and occasionally idyllic encounter between four people with great visual flair. Music plays an important role: Ana Paula plays piano (we hear Skriabin, Schumann, Chopin) and Hermes also turns out to have a great affinity with music. In the film itself, the piano and the film score are juxtaposed skilfully to make us aware of the family bonds, the conflicts and the sensuality between the three women and one man. Dois Córregos – based on a true story – is a moving, intelligent and sensitive film in which themes like politics, desire and nostalgia are woven together with subtlety but also coercion.