Gabriel Bravo de Lima’s new film, Na Dança que Cansa Voavas (In the Dance that Weary You Flew), is filled with poetry. The short film, which explores love in three chapters, balances the lightness of discovery and the pain of love with the dramatic weight of the acclaimed texts that guide the story.
Na Dança que Cansa Voavas draws from works ranging from Maya Angelou and Adélia Prado to Paulo Coelho (!), passing through Caetano Veloso, yet it avoids the trap of relying entirely on them. Here, the verses serve as a complement to what is trapped in the characters’ gazes and bodies.
The complicity in the small gestures seems to shout in this beautiful film, whether in extremely intimate frames inside a home or on the street, as a witness to existence. While Na Dança que Cansa Voavas is carried by the text, it is the image that has the final word.
Gabriel creates a flow film that is only small in its duration. And when Gal shouts “Ressuscita-me” (“Resurrect me”), we leave the experience feeling a little more alive.
