This film was a bit of a workout, between the visual filters and the subtitles trying to keep pace with the rapid fire Brazilian Portuguese. The struggle of the protagonist felt real, though, and their point of view was helpful in decoding the trans experience. The parental subplot felt a little forced and trivial, though, the film could have done without it. I’m glad I watched it, and maybe, if my Portuguese gets better, I’ll wade into it again. I give this film a 7 (good) out of 10. [Romantic Dramedy]
Alice Júnior is an important film, there is no discussion about that. Portrays the prejudice that a young transgender in a conservative school suffers. However, the execution of the idea was a little hard to watch, first because of the most prominent problem: the acting. Acting is an important part of the film, can elevate it or can ruined it, can make you immersed or not. Unfortunately the acting here was not so good, inumerous times I stopped paying attention to what was being said to how it was being said. Sometimes the dialogue was a little bit forced, like the story of essence and flower. Some characters did not take more development, like the bully one, which is told in one scene that he can not stop talking about Alicia, this obsession is never explained or developed during the running time. Another thing was the little joke about the "magical" table with the school principal, okay, the line was to reinforce how tightened to the past she was, but this implies that her prejudice against the protagonist was only due to the factor that she not evolved with the society, which is, in my opinion, wrong. The prejudice is about values, a lot of time with the support of religion, and not only about the incapability to understand that times have changed.
But, I hope more movies with this theme continue to be developing. This one will be a classic, and its paper in the history of brazilian cinema is already perceived.
Shout by C. S. C.BlockedParent2020-12-13T15:24:23Z
The movie did a great job in portraying Alice as a normal teen girl, with the normal feelings and perceptions of a teen girl. She is a lovely character and carries the movie well.
The part with the adults was a bit awkward though. Alice's dad is a fantastic parent, no discussion, he defends his daughter in ways that I have seen few parents do, but I saw no point in his romance plot. It was just there, it felt too casual to be important enough to be shown like that. Maybe adding more meaningful dialogue would have helped, or it should not have been done at all.
I mean, think about this: he is going through something - he is watching his daughter suffer a hard process of adaptation, and no matter how great his relationship with his daughter, families are never so simple. There was supposed to be something going on in his mind, and he never approaches it, despite finding someone he could confide in. I think it would have enriched the movie to acknowledge that talking about your true feelings is necessary for bonding.