Movies

Brazilian filmmaker Vera Egito on her lesbian storyline in “Restless Love”

Being half Brazilian, I grew up watching a lot of telenovelas and the occasional Brazilian movie. Today, I spend more time watching foreign films than I do watching daily soaps, so it was a really nice change a pace to watch a movie I didn’t need subtitles for (but don’t worry, it has them!). Restless Love is a fun film that follows three friends and their chaotic lives in São Paulo. One of those friends is Mica (Renata Gaspar), who’s in a relationship with Duda, (Ana Cañas) a closeted actress.

Restless Love is Vera Egito’s first feature film as a writer-director. We recently spoke with her about her real-life inspirations for the film, criticism that her movie isn’t Brazilian enough, the issue of closeted actors in Brazil and more.

Warning: Spoilers ahead

AfterEllen.com: What was at the base of your interest in making a movie centered around three friends? Especially a lesbian, a gay man and a straight woman.

Vera Egito: Restless Love is a lot about my life and the lives of my friends. I mean, not literally. I used to say it’s a “self-fiction” because it’s really inspired on us. Some people actually from cinema—not like personal friends—they asked me, “You have so many gay friends. Why?” And I said, “I don’t know. I have them.” So this is basically my life. The only answer is Mica and Duda and Diego (Thiago Pethit), they were inspired by people I know and people that are very close to me. Honestly, to me, I don’t see a gay love story. To me, a love story is a love story.

Restless Love is my life. I know those people. I know the way they dress up. I know the way they talk. I know the places they live. It’s me. It’s so natural. On the other hand, the challenge was being loyal to this generation, to this group. Because the film is a kind of portrait of a generation that is living in big cities nowadays, so I had to be loyal to them. To us. I guess we did it because the answers from the audiences are being very positive.

AE: How important is São Paulo to the soul of this film? I think audiences, especially outside of Brazil, will appreciate seeing a world that isn’t Rio de Janeiro or rural Brazil.

VE: I don’t know if it’s that good. I took some not very good answers from some festivals because they told me the film is not the Brazil they would like to show, or it’s not the Brazil they were expecting.

AE: And what Brazil were they expecting? The same Brazil we always see?

VE: Yes, probably. In a festival, my film wouldn’t represent Brazil. I heard from some people in the industry like, “Oh, but this story could be in London.” I said, “Yes, but it’s not.” So there is no Latin American, I don’t know, color. Well, of course, I don’t agree with that because Brazil is everything. Of course, it’s rural too; it’s Rio too. But it’s also São Paulo.

It’s very important. I was born and raised here. Of course, it’s a crazy city—there’s a lot of chaos and violence and a lot of bad things. But at the same time, it’s a free city. You are allowed to be whatever you want to be here. I learned that from my teenage years. You can choose the group you want to belong to: in music, in lifestyle—of course, in your love life. Nothing is weird here. And I think the film is the way it is because of São Paulo, because of this sense that you can act the way you believe is the right way.

AE: Of the three friends, and they all have their own stuff going on, would you say that Mica’s the one that has it most together?

VE: Yeah, she is. She’s the best. During the writing and after when we were in rehearsal with the actors, everybody was always saying, “Mica is the best.” Because she’s so cool. And it’s not because she’s perfect. Sometimes she does weird stuff. Like she’s overly honest—she has some issues too. But she’s just so nice. She has this pure heart. And I think that’s why she’s not able to understand Duda’s attitude. Because, for her, it’s more simple than that. She likes her friends, she likes her life, and she likes Duda. So it’s simple, right? But no, because not everybody’s that clear.

AE: Is that who Mica represents? The person who overall, or at least from outward appearances, has it together and mostly gets it right, but still has some core issues?

VE: She was inspired by two friends of mine. They had exactly the same experiences with actresses here in Brazil. They thought they couldn’t say to anybody that they were in a homosexual relationship. It was a really hard time for them. So I took those friends as inspiration.

I think she represents this person that deserves having a nice relationship. From the beginning, I think we feel that about Mica. She deserves better because she’s a good girl. It makes the conflict with Duda more complicated because Duda is not exactly a bad girl. She has her point. If you don’t agree with that, you shouldn’t be dating her. But Mica is dating her because she’s in love. That’s the problem.

AE: So while I know of many high-profile Brazilian singers who are out as gay or bi, I don’t know of any high profile Brazilian actresses who are. Were you at all trying to make a comment on closeted actresses in Brazil with the Mica-Duda storyline? Do you recognize that is an issue?

VE: We have a lot of actors and actresses who are lesbian and gay. A lot. I have a lot of friends, including at Globo—that is the big TV broadcaster here—but they are all in the closet. Actually, they are not in the closet in their lives. Everybody knows they are. It’s not a problem for them. But to the media and to the audience, they don’t talk about that, and people really believe they are straight. It’s crazy, but I don’t have any opinion because I think it’s very delicate to tell someone, “You should do that.” I don’t know what the person should do. You do what you want to do.

AE: Duda makes a passionate case about how she doesn’t see the need to come out. Other people genuinely feel that way, citing the fact that straight people don’t need to come out as straight. Does Duda really feel that way, though? Or is she just making excuses?

VE: I think she’s trying to believe it. But I think she’s sad about losing Mica. And she knows she’s losing Mica. She knows that. But she can’t help it. I believe maybe she’s going to date a girl again and probably with a better emotional situation. But because Mica is the first, she’s so scared. She doesn’t know how to deal with that. I believe she’ll be better in the next relationship.

AE: There’s a point where Duda admits she’s a shit girlfriend. But despite knowing this, she’s not really making any moves to change. She makes promises, but she never delivers on them. What’s that say about her character?

VE: I think Duda is honest in her craziness. She’s not lying in any moment. So I think it’s positive. But like I said, Mica deserves something better, but she has to go to something better because Duda is that way. I think we have to accept that love is not perfect. If you want a perfect love, then you have to fall for a perfect person. Most of the time we don’t want the perfect one—we want the bad guy. And if you want the bad guy, you have to be mature enough to deal with him or her.

AE: Why do you think Mica, who has been out for a while and has her life pretty together, still makes excuses for her girlfriend being closeted even after a year together? Beyond being nice, what drives her to accept these excuses?

VE: I heard from my queer friends—girls—that because she was straight until Mica, the girls told me that they have a special patience in this case. Because, of course, everything is new for this girl.

The first draft, actually, Mica had an issue about being presented to the family. And my girlfriends, my lesbian girlfriends, they said, “Wow. The family is too hard. We would never push the girl to know the family because if she was straight up until a year ago, maybe it’s difficult for the girl talking to the father and the mother. So maybe you should write about the friends and the social life. It’s more acceptable.” So I changed it.

AE: It sounds like you as a writer have sympathy for Duda, is that right? I do too. For example, when I see that she can’t even let herself be openly affectionate with her girlfriend around other gay people and good friends, I kind of feel for her.

VE: Yes. When I’m writing, I have to be all of them. So I have to understand them to understand the reasons and the motivations they have. Because nobody thinks it’s wrong. Even when we do wrong things, we try to justify ourselves. So when you are writing, you cannot judge your character. Because if you do that, you are going to write a cliché: a bad guy or a bad girl.

In the first draft, Duda was a very fragile girl. She was very afraid of everything. She was very afraid to say who she is for real. I wrote for another actress that is a very delicate and fragile actress, but she couldn’t do it because she got a TV show. And then I called Ana. Ana is actually a singer—she’s quite famous in Brazil. And she’s a power girl. She plays the guitar, and she’s a songwriter—she’s tough. And when I called her, I understood that I had to change the character. Because Ana is not fragile. She’s not delicate. If she’s not assuming her sexuality, it must be for another reason. And then I constructed this girl that is very full of personality, very sexy, but she really doesn’t want to. She doesn’t want to. It’s simple like that. She doesn’t want to talk about that. It’s very difficult to get it, but this is it. It’s her attitude, and she thinks like that.

AE: What’s reaction to the film been like so far?

VE: Here, people are happy to see themselves in the cinema. Because the truth is, people who go to the movies, the moviegoers, they are in the big cities. And we are always seeing the indie films from the U.S., but we don’t have Brazilian indie films for some weird reason. So I think people are going to be positive about the film. And the whole queer community, the LGBT community, I think they are very happy too because it’s not a gay film in the sense that it’s just for the gay community, I believe. It’s a film that’s for everybody.

AE: Have you heard feedback from people who have watched the film outside of Brazil?

VE: I was really surprised because in Miami and in Paris it was subtitled and the film is very much about the dialogue. There are a lot of idioms and the crazy way they talk. I was really in doubt about if the audience would get it by the subtitles. In Miami, I was in a session and people were really laughing, because there are some comical moments. They were really laughing and really getting silent in the more dramatic moments. People were really having fun with the film—and they really got the film—and I was really happy about that because with subtitles it’s not that easy sometimes. In Paris, it was the same.

AE: I do have a question about the critics and press in Brazil, though. I know if a movie like this was made in the States, press in America would probably say the storyline with Duda is you trying to make a statement: you’re trying to ruffle feathers and make a point about closeted actors. Have you heard anything like that?

VE: No, and I don’t believe I will.

AE: Part of that too has to be the press respecting privacy. Actors in North America have been forced out of the closet. But in the ’50s, for example, there were a bunch of actors you didn’t know were gay because the press was in on it with the studios to protect their reputations. It just seems odd that the critics in Brazil won’t be picking up on what you’re clearly putting out there.

VE: They don’t push the actors or the singers. Everything is very, very in the closet in this sense. The press, they are maybe like in the U.S. during the ’50s. They respect.

AE: It’s a tricky word. I would say to not out someone is to respect them. But to not question why there aren’t more out actors, that’s a different story.

VE: Exactly. You are contributing [to] this fake industry. The people who have prejudice, they will keep the prejudice because they believe nice people, people on television, they are not gay. Gays are these crazy boys in the clubs. That’s what they think. So if you keep this image, you are keeping the prejudice. The moment the housewife understands that the actor that she loves is gay, and it’s okay, it’s the same actor, maybe things start to change. I believe so. But I don’t think the press is worried about that.

I had never thought about that, but maybe, I hope so, some actresses can see the film and see themselves in Duda and maybe think better about the attitude because it’s really silly.

AE: Finally, as you move on to other projects, do you plan on tackling more LGBT themes and including more LGBT characters?

VE: Yes, I believe so because, as I told you, this is my world. And I really believe when we talk about love—I couldn’t see myself talking about this traditional love because, honestly, it’s not interesting. For a film, you have to put people that are risking something in love. Risking in all senses. I think it’s about loving whom you want to love, and this is it. And loving the way you believe is the right way. So I probably will be around this subject again.

Restless Love hits Brazilian theaters on May 19. Check out the movie’s Facebook page to find out when it’ll be playing near you.

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