REVIEW - NEIGHBOURING SOUNDS

A film so self-sufficient you need not know a thing going in. The actors will be new to most, their roles are or will become clear in time, the setting is specific yet non-specific, but you won't need to know where, nor when we are here. It's life, above all, that we're witnessing. The immediate and the impermanent, the little things that matter and the big things that don't, the air filled with colours and noise and movement - so much air, that which we all share in common, the space in which we all exist, neighbours of one another whether we like it or not, whether we know it or not. Kleber Mendonca Filho's camera roves through this space, through the naked streets, through the narrow alleys, over rooftops and in between bars, always observing. And we follow, a silent spectator, drinking in all this life, in all its thrilling triviality. From the opening drum beat on the soundtrack, into the opening footage of a young girl on rollerblades, motion and rhythm define Neighbouring Sounds, be that in their presence or in their absence. Filho's touch is graceful, even mischievous at times, and his dialogue so casual that he elicits uniformly excellent performances from the cast, and I was charmed by the familiar informality I saw in each and all of them - a vibrant ordinariness that absorbs your attention like nothing else, and situates you right there in balmy Brazilian Recife. The sound design is adroit to its position in the fabric of the filmmaking, adding enormous detail and depth but never assuming excessive prominence, and you may wonder why all films' soundscapes can't be so richly textured. Filho's directorial proficiency is outstandingly strong for someone only making their first non-documentary feature film - his spatial awareness is top-notch, and his navigation of tonal shifts is so smooth you won't even notice it. I need never watch another of his films, nor see any of these actors nor these locations again. This is all I need.