Imagining the future of humanity while trying to understand the present was the Renata Pinheiro . Born in Pernambuco and present in the cinema in her state since its development, the director wanted to tell a story that resonates with many people in Brazil, especially those who live in large urban centers.
“Cities are designed for cars and not for passersby”, says Renata in conversation with the CNN . “We see gardens turning into parking lots, cinemas turning into parking lots, everything is very designed for that”.
The filmmaker, therefore, decided to tell the story of Uno, a boy who, when born in the back seat of a taxi, acquires the power to talk to cars. With the help of his mechanic uncle Zé Macaco (Matheus Nacthergaele ), it transforms your favorite vehicle into a creature capable of hearing, talking, and even falling in love. Together, they aim to save Uno’s father’s taxi company, which is suffering from new laws aimed at older cars.
With beautiful photography, echoing Renata’s art direction roots, “Carro Rei” talks about transhumanism, but also addresses the issue of the environment, intrinsically linked to the ecological damage generated directly by the production and use of cars, especially in the underdeveloped world. .
Despite leading the genre well, earning awards in the Gramado Festival it’s from Rotterdam the director never thought of making a science fiction properly speaking, but said that the process was natural.
“It is not by chance that fantastic realism is a Latin American genre by essence”, he says. “Our land is of an indigenous and mixed culture, there are many layers in our continent”
Despite this, there is no shortage of comparisons between “Carro Rei” and “Titane”, a French film by director Julia Ducornau, from 2019, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival 2021 . Both share the theme of transhumanism, as well as a scene where the car has sex with one of the characters.
“I need to meet her (Julia Ducornau) one day to find out what happened, because the theme of transhumanism is the same. There’s also the fact that some characters empower their bodies through gimmicks such as steroids and metal plates is, in fact, too much of a coincidence,” she says.
Bringing the theme of science fiction outside the Rio-São Paulo axis, Renata continues to contribute to Pernambuco cinema with each project she carries out.
“I like to reveal the ‘Brazils’ that are not taken to the screens much. I like to reveal characters even crazier than a Zé Macaco out there”.
Matthew and the Monkey
The use of car parts, from junkyards, being incorporated into the human body is one of the most interesting aspects of “Carro Rei” and it is with Matheus Nacthergaele that the transhumanism of the feature reaches its peak.
The actor plays Zé Macaco, a mechanic who turns out to be a misunderstood genius. Victim of constant humiliation from the people of the city and his own family, the mechanic isolates himself and, at the same time that he begins to work even more deeply on the cars in his workshop, he is relegated to the most primitive state of humanity.
“In the original idea, Zé Macaco had that name because he was the guy at the tire shop, who changed the tires”, says actor Matheus Nachtergaele. “But in a movie whose main character is a talking car, I thought I should take that moniker to its ultimate consequences.”
The role is pitiful, according to Matheus. Zé Macaco is a deformed man, perhaps because he resembles the ape, but for Matheus, such deformity may be the result of a social problem.
“He may be malnourished, mistreated, things that are very common in the sertão”, says the actor.
“And this sertão is not just the northeast, we just need to leave any metropolitan area to find social ills”.
As imagined by the director, another sociopolitical aspect of the film is the man-machine relationship that bestializes people rather than humanizes them. Matheus endorses the idea and goes further:
“The fable is told through the car, but it is possible to talk on the cell phone as well. Today, it is the place for entertainment, information, fake news, sex, affection… And less and less people meet without the interference of the machine”.
Watch the trailer for “King Car”:
Source: CNN Brasil
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