“With streaming, auteur cinema is coming into check”, says Anna Muylaert

Films that misrepresent the roles of genres are not new. There is no lack of comedies, for example, that present realities where men and women switch bodies.

the filmmaker Anna Muylaert agrees and regrets, in principle, a launch of this type that took place by the Netflix in 2018.

“The first version of my film was a comedy of manners, but a year later, Netflix releases ‘I Am Not an Easy Man’, another comedy”, says Anna, about the French film about an inveterate sexist who wakes up in a world dominated by women.

“But that was good. When the pandemic came and I saw the actions of male presidents clashing with the actions of female presidents, I decided that I was going to raise a tone in the film: make it a political comedy.”

“The Business Women’s Club” is a feature, scheduled for release in 2024, set in an imaginary world where gender stereotypes are inverted – women occupy positions of power while men are raised to be socially submissive.

It is a drama that addresses not only machismo, but also racism, classism and corruption, rooted in the patriarchal culture of Brazil and the world.

Anna Muylaert, however, emphasizes that the film’s environment is not a matriarchy where women took power after centuries of injustice: it is a world where they have always been dominant.

They dictate how men should act, how they should behave and how they should dress. Preferably with few clothes.

“Live” cinema

It was a cold day in the south of São Paulo. A club served as the filming set for the film which is due to be shot by the end of this month of September and which involves a crew of around 100 people.

Carioca, actor Rafael Vitti felt colder than production and cast together. Thanks to the orange crop top and a lilac jacket he wore for the scene, which would be an outdoor one, despite the thermometers reading 12 degrees.

“I’m more straight, I don’t wear that kind of clothes, normally”, says the actor. “But I’m starting to like these painted nails. Those who don’t like it are the ladies who see me on television”.

The 26-year-old built his career based mostly on soap operas. Works like “Rocky Story”, “Summer 90” and the recent “Beyond Illusion” were the ones that launched the actor to stardom.

Now, with “The Business Women’s Club,” he believes he will speak to a different audience.

“The difference is that the film has a beginning, middle and end. We locate ourselves better in the work and deal with themes in a more profound way than a soap opera, in this case”, says Rafael.

Themes that, according to the cast, will cause discomfort in the viewer.

As the main scene of the day, recorded with Rafael Vitti, Louise Cardoso and Cristina Pereira . Between one cloud and another, which covered the sun and prevented the correct lighting from reaching the set, the scene features the character of Rafael Vitti, who has just gone through a serious situation within the Club and wants to tell the episode to Cesárea, his grandmother. .

Between takes, a robe hurriedly arrived to cover the actors who were exposed to the wind, while they rehearsed two versions of the same scene.

“Ok, we have sun, let’s shoot fast”, said Anna Muylaert, inside a large tent, with an eye on the video return.

Cristina Pereira a veteran actress with a strong comedic streak who plays Cesárea, owner of the Club, said that Anna’s direction is the most creative she has ever worked with.

“You have the script as a foundation, of course,” she says. “But all the creative work is done at the time of shooting. It takes an open mind to improvise in the face of change.”

Louise Cardoso, who plays Brasília, Cesárea’s right-hand man, has the same opinion.

“There have already been 15 versions of the script and Anna is doing the 16th live”, says the actress, who has acted in theater, television and cinema.

“Sometimes we get scared. Not from Anna, but we’re stuck with what we’ve studied about the character, it doesn’t have to be that way,” she says. “Today, for example, I’m going to do a scene that wasn’t even in the script. I mean, that’s if the sun lets it.”

And left. The exterior scene of about a minute, however, took almost half an hour to shoot.

Brazilian Popular Cinema

When I asked the actors and director if “The Business Women’s Club” was a comedy, the answer was unanimous and complex: yes and no.

“The film has humor, suspense, terror and deals with very tense aspects of our society”, says Anna Muylaert. “The business club is nothing more than a favor club, after all.”

In the list is also Grace Gianoukas, that emerged on the stage in comedy shows, such as “Terça Insana”. The actress called the film tragicomic.

“I’m not making a comedy or a joke, but there are visually funny situations, you watch a scene and think it’s strange”, says the actress, “and this strangeness is the result of the combination of the script, the direction, the makeup and the costumes. All of this pulls you out of that obvious place and makes you reflect.”

Grace also said that she felt vindicated in some scenes and thinks that many women will feel the same way.

Luis Miranda, one of the few male actors in the main group, goes further and says that part of society wants to see women in positions of power. For him, the film is funny, but the conversation is serious.

“The production has a very interesting layer of comedy, all the time the characters make a caricature of the behaviors rooted in our society. You can recognize yourself in the attitudes of these women,” she says.

According to the actors and actresses, this is not a film that will point fingers at the audience, but rather expose the so-called rottenness of society in a way that will cause annoyance to those who watch it.

“It’s like a mirror that serves to better see common situations that women go through”, says Anna Muylaert. “But when we reverse roles, they get worse, because you never imagine men going through certain situations.”

For the cast, it will not be a film for critics, only for the Brazilian audiovisual bubble, its intention is that the message reaches the viewer, so that something really changes.

“It is a film that will cause many discussions and will last for many years”, says Cristina Pereira. “It will help to address these cultural problems more.”

Cinema X Streaming

Restless, Anna directs a second scene in the day. Luis Miranda’s character, on a private investigation to find out what’s behind this women’s club, goes into a kitchen to get some information from the staff.

“I want people working, moving,” says Anna. “You can wash this pan with pleasure, see?”
She addresses a male extra who is in the corner of the scene, washing and rinsing dishes, in a very subtle way, insufficient for the camera to capture.

“Open the faucet”.

“You don’t have to pretend, it’s for washing.”

“Shows the pan more, with more force”.

After a few more directions, the scene, also short, is finished.

Anna Muylaert has great control over her career, always directing and writing films with social commentary and contemporary themes. She became world-renowned for the film “What Time Does She Come Back” 2015, the year that, for her, was when a new wave of feminism became aware of itself.

“It was at this time that women began to speak, to position themselves and, well, men had to follow along”, says the director.

For her, the audiovisual market is kinder to women than at the time of her first feature. “Durval Discos” from 2002, but there is another problem facing the sector: the rise of streaming.

“The market has completely changed and auteur cinema is coming into check”, she says. “I work with the idea of ​​authorship, whether it’s writing for someone or myself, and it seems like streams are betting more on their own power.”

She doesn’t know if this benefits the Brazilian market directly, but says that she continues to make the cinema she believes in: a provocative cinema that makes Brazilians look inside themselves and laugh with nerves.