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‘The Blue Trail’ Review: It’s Never Too Late to Find One’s Purpose, Preaches an Open-Minded Septuagenarian
Brazilian helmer Gabriel Mascaro imagines an authoritarian policy to manage the country’s elderly being the impetus a woman needs to reclaim her life.
And yet, the director’s generous anti-ageist excursion turns out to be the polar opposite of Alfonso Cuarón’s alarmingly bleak sci-fi thriller in both genre and tone (if anything, it’s got those feel-good ”Cocoon” vibes). The next 20 minutes could be Mascaro’s jaunty take on “The African Queen,” as this affable and unassuming old woman tries to make nice with her surly guide, who snorts rapé at the helm and later introduces her to the psychotropic effects of the “blue drool snail.” Tereza isn’t quite ready for such a mind-altering experience, although you can bet your fighting betta fish that she’ll wind up trying it before the end credits roll (when those do come, it’s set to the same quirky electronic score, by Memo Guerra, that gives everything else such an upbeat feel). Her journey is short, just 86 minutes, but it’s filled with indelible encounters and images, like the mountain of used tires, sent back to the forests from which the rubber was harvested; the surreal fiberglass graveyard of an abandoned amusement park; or shots of a Cadu’s tiny boat chugging along an S-curve in the river that feel so free, it’s almost like flying.
Or read this on Variety