Today I'm going home alone

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Movie
German title Today I'm going home alone
Original title Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho
Country of production Brazil
original language Portuguese
Publishing year 2014
length 95 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Daniel Ribeiro
script Daniel Ribeiro
production Daniel Ribeiro,
Diana Almeida
camera Pierre de Kerchove
cut Cristian Chinen
occupation

Today I'm Going Home Alone ( Portuguese original title: Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho ) is a Brazilian coming-of-age film directed by Daniel Ribeiro from 2014 and based on the 2010 short film I Don't Want to Go Back Alone . The film was the Brazilian Oscar entry in 2015. The German theatrical release was on February 26, 2015.

action

Leonardo, called Leo, is blind. Every day his best friend Giovana brings him home from school, even though she lives two blocks in the other direction. At school, classmate Fabio makes fun of Leo's loud typewriter. When a new student named Gabriel comes into the class, he takes the empty space behind Leo.

Giovana, who like Leo has never kissed anyone, begins to be interested in Gabriel, but is put off when the extrovert Karina approaches him. Finally, Giovana and Leo become friends with Gabriel, who then joins them on the way home. One day when Leo goes home alone with a walking stick, Fabio and his friends press him so that he trips and falls. Angry and very late, he arrives home where his worried parents are waiting for him. He accuses them of being overprotective. He then tells Giovana that he wants to do a year abroad so that he can be more independent. The two therefore obtain information from an agency that specializes in this, but they want to talk to their parents.

Leo spends more and more time with Gabriel. After they have both been at Giovana’s, Gabriel brings Leo home so that Giovana does not have to make a detour; however, she is reluctant to consent. When couples are formed for a group project at school, Leo works with Gabriel (instead of Giovana, as usual). He tells Leo about films and internet videos until Leo agrees to go to the cinema. Gabriel has to keep whispering the plot in his ear. In the next few days they are working on the school project and Leo tries to teach Gabriel Braille , which Gabriel thinks is impossible. One night they observe a lunar eclipse that Gabriel Leo tries to describe. When Gabriel notices that he has left his sweater with Leo, he asks Leo to bring it to him the next day. Leo finds the sweater, smells it and puts it on while sleeping.

Gabriel finally takes Giovana's place as Leo's companion on the way home. When the two of them forget to wait for Giovana, she becomes angry and demonstratively avoids them from now on. Leo tells his parents about his plan to do a year abroad, but, as expected, is rejected. When Karina throws a party at her home, Giovana, Leo and Gabriel go. Giovana continues to avoid Leo, but pours her heart out to Gabriel while they get drunk; she finally kisses Gabriel, but he does not return the kiss. Leo gets into a game of spin the bottle , which Fabio uses to annoy him again: when it is Leo's turn, Fabio tries to give him a kiss from Karina's dog, but Giovana frees Leo at the last moment. The mood between the two is getting worse, however, and when Gabriel tries to take Leo home, Leo complains angrily that nobody lets him kiss anyone. Gabriel gives him a kiss and disappears.

On a camping trip with the school, Leo is alone on the bus while Gabriel sits next to Karina. Gabriel later explains to Leo that he was so drunk at the party that he doesn't remember anything. During the night, Leo and Giovana meet and get drunk together, until Leo finally reveals to her that he is in love with Gabriel. Giovana takes the news suspiciously at first, but then assures Leo of her support. When Gabriel visits Leo again at home, he explains to him that he rejected Karina because he had feelings for someone else. He also suggests that he remembers the kiss after the party very well and that his attention is on Leo. A long kiss ensues between the two of them.

After Gabriel and Leo presented their project at school and are on their way home again, Fabio and his friends speculate that the two are gay. Leo reacts by taking Gabriel's arm instead of his hand and showing everyone their relationship. In the final scene, Gabriel helps Leo achieve his desire to ride a bicycle.

background

Scene from the short film I don't want to go back alone

In 2010 director Daniel Ribeiro released the short film I don't want to go back alone (original title: Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho ). The short film won several festival awards and was made available free of charge on YouTube .

In December 2012 it was announced that a feature film based on the short film would be produced and that the same actors would be involved. After more than two years of preparation, filming began in spring 2013. Like the short film, the entire film was shot in São Paulo . The working title was still Todas As Coisas Mais Simples ("All the simple things"), but in September 2013 director Ribeiro announced that the final title of the film would be Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho ("Today I want to go home alone") . Thus, the focus of the film (in contrast to the short film) is directed to Leonardo's striving for independence. The international title of the film, however, is The Way He Looks ( English ambiguous for "How he [looks]").

The film was shown for the first time at the Berlinale 2014 on February 10, 2014, and it was finally shown in Brazilian cinemas on April 10, 2014. The international film rights have already been sold; Edition Salzgeber has secured them for Germany and Austria . The German theatrical release was on February 26, 2015. In Switzerland, the film was released in theaters on August 14, 2014 through Agora Films . The German DVD edition was published by Salzgeber on March 24, 2015.

The film was submitted as a Brazilian entry for Best Foreign Film at the 2015 Academy Awards , but could not achieve a nomination.

Soundtrack

reception

success

In the first week, Today I'm Going Home Alone in 33 Brazilian cinemas started and with 30,209 viewers it was the fifth most-watched film of the week. Taking into account the premiere performances in the previous week, the audience totaled 31,209.

Internationally, the film grossed $ 1,159,451  , of which $ 1,016,161  in Brazil (as of March 5, 2015).

Reviews

Today I go home alone was generally positively received by international criticism. The Rotten Tomatoes review collection has a 93 percent positive rating, based on 27 professional reviews.

The film received a lot of praise in Brazil. Raíssa Rossi from Almanaque Virtual said it was “difficult not to be moved by such a light-footed and true story that destroys all kinds of prejudices”. The "captivating acting, the smooth images and the pleasant and apt soundtrack" would "complete" the "merit" of the film.

The film service called Today I'm Going Home Alone a “calmly told, simply and clearly developed film about growing up”, which is “far too complex”, “to simply be a 'blind film' or a ' Coming out 'drama to be classified ”. For Sascha Westphal from epd Film , the film is “a classic coming-of-age story” that is “unspectacular” and “yet touching”. Director Ribeiro tells "with a wonderful nonchalance of the first love". Although you are “familiar with the situations and stations in history… from countless films, of course”, Ribeiro “finds images for her that go straight to the heart”. The sometimes "unusual perspective" of the camera when it looks "vertically from above at Leo" signals "distance" and creates "a tremendous closeness". Westphal also emphasizes that neither of the two protagonists wrestles with his homosexuality; rather, it is “completely natural”.

In the Hollywood Reporter , Boyd van Hoeij said he was impressed with how Ribeiro worked the short film material into feature length; he added not only "conflict and a convincing team of supporting actors", but also the "completely new aspect of the search for independence of the blind protagonist". With "confidence in tone" he concentrates on the "innate goodness of his young main characters" before he slowly gives them space to "rebel while they try to assert themselves and leave the protective cocoon of their childhood behind them". Not Leo's “possible coming-out”, but “the overprotection of the people around him” is the “engine of the drama”. While Van Hoeij criticized the school trip and the shower scene as a “useful queer film cliché”, he praised the script as a whole, which consisted of “both humorous and emotional moments” and “extremely suitable for the conflict-laden emotional worlds of the young main characters agreed ". In addition, there are "various loving tonal and visual leitmotifs".

Jay Weissberg wrote in Variety that the film had “real charisma”, although the script and direction were “little more than average”. Ribeiro makes a mistake, however, when he lets his parents behave "as if their son was only recently blind and not all his life". The "majority of the dialogues" seem to have been "recycled from countless teenage films", yet the story is "told with tenderness" and captures the "indecision" to "show affection when rejection can only have dire consequences". Andy Webster from the New York Times attested to the "engaging" film, he "skillfully interweaves ... the social challenges of youth into a story of broader self-discovery". Martin Tsai criticized in the Los Angeles Times that the "daily troubles" of the protagonist worked in comparison with, for example, the "lonely hardship" of the heroine of blue, a warm color is "irrelevant". And with the “sugar-sweet end”, Ribeiro puts “unrealistic entertainment about the meaningful preoccupation with the challenges that disabled or gay young people have to master”.

Awards

At its premiere at the 2014 Berlinale , I go home alone won the FIPRESCI Prize for the best film in the main Panorama program and the Teddy Award for the best feature film . He also landed in second place in the Panorama Audience Award. The film also won a number of other festival prizes.

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Today I go home alone . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , January 2015 (PDF; test number: 149 165 K).
  2. ↑ a b Brasil indica 'Hoje eu quero voltar sozinho' para tentar vaga no Oscar. In: Globo. Retrieved November 24, 2014 .
  3. ↑ a b Oscars: Brazil Selects 'The Way He Looks' for Foreign-Language Category. In: Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 24, 2014 .
  4. ^ Daniel Borges: Longa baseado no curta Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho tem novo título anunciado. (No longer available online.) Cinemarcado, September 10, 2013, archived from the original on December 29, 2014 ; Retrieved November 27, 2014 (Brazilian Portuguese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cinemarcado.com.br
  5. ↑ a b Boyd van Hoeij: The Way He Looks (Hoje eu quero voltar sozinho): Berlin Review. Hollywood Reporter , February 12, 2014, accessed on November 27, 2014 (English): "Ribeiro has impressively fleshed out the material into a full narrative, with not only added conflict and a convincing gallery of supporting characters but also an entirely new focus on the quest for independence of the blind lead ... Ribeiro's command of tone ... focusing on the innate goodness of his young characters before slowly allowing them the space to rebel as they try to assert themselves and leave their protective childhood cocoon behind ... Ribeiro makes the protectiveness of the characters around Leonardo, rather than Leo's potential coming out, the motor of the drama… A class trip in the film's third act feels somewhat protracted and the resulting shower scene… feels too much like a convenient queer film cliché… Generally, however, Ribeiro's screenplay, which is marbled with moments of humor as well as emotion, feels extremely well-tuned into the conflicted emotional lives of his adolescent cha racters ... Ribeiro also weaves in several lovely audio and visual leitmotifs ... "
  6. ^ The Way He Looks: Release Worldwide. In: Official website. Lacuna Filmes, accessed November 27, 2014 .
  7. ↑ Today I'm going home alone, press kit. (PDF) Edition Salzgeber, accessed on December 29, 2014 .
  8. ↑ THE WAY HE LOOKS. Agora Films, accessed November 27, 2014 .
  9. ↑ Today I'm going home alone, DVD product information. (PDF) Edition Salzgeber, accessed on March 15, 2015 .
  10. ↑ BILHETERIA BRASIL: CAPITÃO AMÉRICA 2 ESTREIA NO TOPO DO RANKING. In: Cineclick. April 14, 2014, accessed April 15, 2014 (Brazilian Portuguese).
  11. ↑ Bilheteria: Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho surpreende no primeiro fim de semana. (No longer available online.) In: Cinemercado. April 14, 2014, archived from the original on April 16, 2014 ; Retrieved April 15, 2014 (Brazilian Portuguese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cinemarcado.com.br
  12. ↑ The Way He Looks. Box Office Mojo, accessed November 27, 2014 .
  13. ↑ The Way He Looks (2014). Rotten Tomatoes , accessed November 27, 2014 .
  14. ^ Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho: Criticas da imprensa. AdoroCinema, accessed November 27, 2014 (Brazilian Portuguese, review collection).
  15. ↑ Raíssa Rossi: Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho. Almanaque Virtual, April 5, 2014; archived from the original on April 13, 2014 ; Retrieved on November 27, 2014 (Brazilian Portuguese): “Difícil nicht se emocionar com uma história tão leve e verdadeira, que nulifica qualquer tipo de preconceito. As interpretações convincentes, principalmente de Ghilherme Lobo como um garoto cego, a fotografia suave ea trilha sonora agradável e acertada completam o mérito do filme. "
  16. ↑ Today I'm going home alone. Film service , accessed April 15, 2015 .
  17. ↑ Sascha Westphal: Today I'm going home alone. epd film , February 6, 2015, accessed April 15, 2015 .
  18. ↑ Jay Weissberg: Berlin Film Review: 'The Way He Looks'. Variety , February 17, 2014, accessed on November 27, 2014 (English): "[T] he pic has genuine appeal, though in truth the script and direction are little more than average ... Ribeiro errs by making them behave as if their son's been blind for just a few years rather than his entire life… Most of the dialogue feels recycled from countless teen pics… But this is a gay story, done with tenderness and capturing the hesitancy of expressing affection when rejection can have ugly consequences. "
  19. ↑ Andy Webster: The Way He Looks . Matters of the (Young) Heart. In: The New York Times . November 7, 2014, p. C9 ( online article [accessed on November 27, 2014] "This winning movie ... dexterously weaves the social challenges of adolescence into a story of broader self-discovery.").
  20. ↑ Martin Tsai: Review 'The Way He Looks' at a Brazilian teen navigating the world. Los Angeles Times , November 6, 2014, accessed November 27, 2014 (English): "His daily travails depicted here also seem incidental when compared with, say, the lonely plight of the bisexual heroine in 'Blue Is the Warmest Color'. And with his saccharine ending, writer-director Daniel Ribeiro puts escapist entertainment above meaningfully addressing the challenges faced by disabled or gay youths. "
  21. ^ Berlin: 'The Way He Looks' and 'The Circle' Lead Teddy Award Winners. In: IndieWire. Retrieved February 15, 2014 .
  22. ↑ Berlinale 2014: The Panorama Audience Awards go to Difret and Der Kreis. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Berlinale press department, February 15, 2014, p. 1 , archived from the original on March 4, 2014 ; Retrieved November 26, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.berlinale.de
  23. ↑ Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho: Awards. In: IMDb. Retrieved November 27, 2014 .