Sócrates (film)

Sócrates is a 2018 Brazilian drama film directed by Alexandre Moratto and starring Christian Malheiros in his feature film debut. The film traces the story of Sócrates, a black 15-year-old teen from Santos, in the coast of São Paulo, who has to overcome extreme poverty, the death of his mother, and homophobia.

Sócrates
Directed byAlexandre Moratto
Produced by
Screenplay by
  • Thayná Mantesso
  • Alexandre Moratto
Starring
Release date
21 September 2018 (Los Angeles)
Running time
71 minutes
CountryBrazil
LanguagePortuguese

The film premiered on September 21, 2018, at the LA Film Festival.[1] Two months later, it was nominated for three categories at the Independent Spirit Awards[2] including one win with the Someone To Watch Award for Moratto, an award given to "a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition."[3] Malheiros was nominated for Best Male Lead at the Spirit Awards, competing with actors such as Joaquin Phoenix and Ethan Hawke in his feature film debut.[4] The film went on to win over a dozen awards at international film festivals including the Thessaloniki, Mannheim-Heidelberg, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Woodstock, and Uruguay Film Festivals.[5] In March 2019, it won the prestigious Jordan Ressler First Feature Award at the Miami Film Festival.[6] In August 2019, it was shortlisted for Brazil's Official Academy Award entry.[7]

The film was executive produced by Academy Award Nominated Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles, who called it "a great and sensitive debut film. A mirror to the youth in Brazil and all over the world."[8] It was produced by acclaimed filmmaker Ramin Bahrani, who Moratto counts as a mentor.[9]

Cast

Reception

Upon its theatrical and VOD release in the United States in August 2019,[12] the film received a score of 83 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim".[13] The New York Times selected it as a Critic's Pick, where it was reviewed by Jeannette Catsoulis, who wrote "'Socrates' isn’t simply about being gay, or poor, or even devastatingly unloved: It’s about honoring a resilience that most of us will thankfully never have to summon."[14] The Los Angeles Times review by Carlos Aguilar called the film an "affecting and necessary debut."[15] In a four star review on RogerEbert.com, critic Godfrey Cheshire called the film "a work whose accomplishments signal a director of great promise."[16] Writing for Film Threat, critic Alex Saveliev noted that the film has "an authenticity rarely seen in contemporary cinema."[17]

Critics also focused on Christian Malheiros' award-winning performance. Writing for the Hollywood Reporter, critic Frank Scheck called his performance "stunning."[18] In Variety, critic Dennis Harvey wrote "Malheiros’ terrific turn makes this protagonist credibly tough by necessity, and mature beyond his years."[19] In The Los Angeles Times, critic Carlos Aguilar wrote that Malheiros' "facial gestures oscillate between stoicism and crushing wails."[15] In The New York Times, critic Jeannette Catsoulis wrote, "his charm and energy draw us immediately to his side."[14] Malheiros won the Special Jury Award at the 67th Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival, one of the longest-running film festivals in Europe. Of his performance, the festival noted "a jury watches a lot of films. If one thing sticks with you that you don’t forget, it is often a face. In this case it is the face of Christian Malheiros in the Brazilian Film 'Socrates'. The worry, the happiness and the hope in this face – and his fight in the big city jungle of São Paulo – will not soon be forgotten by those who see it. That is why this year’s Special Jury Award goes to the actor Christian Malheiros in the film 'Socrates'."[20]

References
  1. "Socrates - LA Film Festival".
  2. Erbland, Kate (16 November 2018). "2019 Independent Spirit Awards Nominees: 'Eighth Grade' & 'We the Animals' Lead". IndieWire. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  3. "2019 Spirit Award Filmmaker Winners". Film Independent. 2019-01-08. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  4. McNary, Dave (2018-11-16). "Spirit Awards Nominations Led by 'We the Animals'". Variety. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  5. "Awards & Festivals". Socrates. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  6. Emmanuelle. "Jordan Ressler First Feature Award 2020". Miami Film Festival. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  7. "News". Socrates. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  8. Socrates (2019) Official Trailer | Breaking Glass Pictures | BGP Indie LGBTQ Movie, retrieved 2019-09-01
  9. "'Socrates' Filmmaker Alexandre Moratto on the Making of His Award-Winning Debut". Film Independent. 2019-08-12. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  10. "Sócrates". AdoroCinema. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  11. Socrates, retrieved 2019-09-01
  12. "U.S. Theatrical and VOD Release of SÓCRATES". Cinema Tropical. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  13. Socrates, retrieved 2019-09-01
  14. Catsoulis, Jeannette (2019-08-15). "'Socrates' Review: Surviving on the Streets of São Paulo". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  15. "Review: 'Socrates' reveals the struggle of a gay teen in the slums of Brazil". Los Angeles Times. 2019-08-08. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  16. Cheshire, Godfrey. "Socrates Movie Review | Socrates Movie | Socrates | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  17. "Socrates". Film Threat. 2019-08-20. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  18. "'Socrates': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  19. Harvey, Dennis (2019-07-03). "Film Review: 'Socrates'". Variety. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  20. "The Award Winners of the 67th International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg". Internationales Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg. 2018-11-24. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
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