Neighboring Sounds
This forensically crafted debut by Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho (AQUARIUS, 2016; BACURAU, 2019) crams a huge story into a small space. In the rapidly gentrifying coastal city of Recife, real estate agents and petty criminals, security guards and clandestine lovers coexist in prickly proximity. Creating a faint undertow of psychological horror, Mendonça uses nerve-jangling sound design to invoke the hidden social fault lines between characters from different class backgrounds, their stories inextricably intertwined with Brazil’s bloody colonial history.
Ana Rita Gurgel, Caio Almeida, Maeve Jinkings
- Note From Ari WegnerKleber Mendonça Filho is an incredible Brazilian filmmaker whose work I just love. His debut feature, NEIGHBORING SOUNDS, in particular I could happily watch any day of the week. I first met Kleber at the Sydney Film Festival when NEIGHBORING SOUNDS was screening, and his narrative films since, AQUARIUS and BACURAU, are equally quintessential. I love a film that is so local it becomes universal, and NEIGHBORING SOUNDS is just that. Set within a few blocks of a neighborhood, actually Kleber’s own, the film’s astute observations of its residents (and the people who work for them) paint a picture of contemporary Recife, with universal themes of fear, security and how deeply the past influences the present. These interactions make for tension and comedy alike, incredible dialogue as well as fantastic moments that made me jump on first viewing. As the title would suggest, sound is given full pride of place, not just with a wonderful soundtrack but also in the (possibly relatable) way our neighbors’ noises manage to transcend fences, walls and gates. Shot with an unmistakable ’70s flavor (great zooms!), this remarkable film is one of the most assured debuts you could hope to see.
