the washington post friday, december 3, 2010 l
42 EZ
WASTELAND
Portraits bloom in a Rio landfill
BY STEPHANIEMERRY It may seem contradictory that Rio de
Janeiro’s largest landfill is called Jardim Gramacho (Gramacho Garden). But spend some time there, thanks to the documenta- ry “Waste Land,” and you start to get the sense that, amid the trash, something really is blooming. Filmmaker Lucy Walker (the director
behind the well-received documentary “Countdown to Zero”) follows Brazilian- born artist Vik Muniz in his artistic quest to give back to a community in need. He decides to create portraits of the men and women who make a living by trolling Gramacho, sifting through garbage, food scraps and sometimes even dead bodies in search of recyclable materials. The pickers (“catadores”)Muniz chooses
to depict offer a glimpse at the kaleido- scope of characters at the landfill. Suelem is an 18-year-old mother of two who has been working there since she was 7; Zumbi dreams of starting a library with the discarded books he discovers; Tiao, who unionized the pickers despite heavy oppo- sition, reads Machiavelli; Isis dons dangly earrings and miniskirts to perform her duties. While these characters have lived
through some devastating moments—the loss of significant others, children, jobs — the documentary is ultimately an inspiring one about the human capacity for reinven- tion during dark times. And this makes the movie especially timely as retirement funds disappear and people are forced to trade in high-powered jobs for low-wage
ones. But despite their misfortune, the stars of “Waste Land” don’t want pity; as one catador says, “It’s better than turning tricks in Copacabana.” This is a more dignified existence than some of the alter- natives. Learning about these characters only
partially explains why the documentary received so much attention—and so many awards — on the film festival circuit, including an audience award at Sundance. Watching Muniz work is equally captivat- ing. The artist creates massive portraits of
his subjects by projecting photos on the ground and overlaying the faces, contours and shadows with a mosaic of recyclable materials.He then photographsthe display to create a portable piece of art. One of the most impressive is a re-creation of Jacques- Louis David’s “Death of Marat,” with Tiao standing in for the murdered revolution- ary. The finished product, and the money it
rakes in at auction to benefit the catadores, is just one variation on the film’s theme of turning trash into treasure. Even Muniz claims his success arose
from a bad break. After stopping a fight, he was mistakenly shot in the leg, and it was the compensation from this injury that allowed him to exchange an existence working at a meat dumpster behind a grocery store for the chance to travel to the United States and become an artist.He has since shown his work at the Venice Bienni- al andNewYork’sMuseum ofModern Art. Life is unpredictable that way. “Waste
Land” is a testament that things can go from good to bad in an instant. But they can also improve just as quickly.
stephanie.merry@
wpost.com
rrr
Unrated. At Landmark’s E Street Cinema. Contains nothing objectionable. In English and Portuguese with English subtitles. 99 minutes.
VIK MUNIZ
For his re-creation of the “Death ofMarat,” VikMuniz arranged recyclablematerials and used a landfill scavenger as a stand-in for the murdered revolutionary.
tiny from 41
day.” But Dunham claims a space all her own within the indie firmament, evincing a wryly observant sense of humor (Aura’s comic YouTube video about a dyslexic stripper has gotten 400 hits!) but also a darker, more serious substratum.When Aura reach- es the nadir of her attention-getting stunts, the episode isn’t funny ha-ha but empty and kind of sad. In its depiction of anxious young
KRISTY GRIFFIN
Jang Dong Gun and Kate Bosworth star in “TheWarrior’sWay.”
Also Playing
TheWarrior’sWay A warrior/assassin hides in a small town after refusing a mission in “TheWarrior’s Way.” This movie did not screen for review. R. At area theaters. 100 minutes.
adulthood set amidst powerful paren- tal egos, “Tiny Furniture” could be the little sister of the extraordinary 2008 film “Momma’s Man.” Like that film, Dunham’s dramatic comedy (comic drama?) renders the artist’s life with candor, wit and 360-degree clarity. More, please.
hornadaya@washpost.com rrr
Unrated. At West End Cinema. Contains
sexual situations, profanity and some drug use. 98 minutes.
black swan from 41
Swan. Perhaps Lily (Mila Kunis), an unin- hibited, wild-eyednewcomerto thecompa- ny, would be better suited? Whether Lily is a friend or a rival is just
one of the questions that drive “Black Swan,” in which narcissism, ambition, lust and competition play out against a beguil- ing backdrop of mirrors and Nina’s own pink-and-white bedroom, into which her overprotective and undermining mother (BarbaraHershey) regularly barges. If some of the visual language of “Black
Swan” strikes the viewer as a tad too obvious (Lily’s tattooed wings on her back; a stuffed black swan in Nina’s room), the movie nonetheless captures the punishing physical rigors endured by dancers who, behind the gossamer and tulle, train like Olympic athletes. For every moment of exquisite grace, Aronofsky compensates with a shot of bruised toes mercilessly cracking, or someone taking a pair of scissors to the sole of a pink toe shoe. That violence, it turns out, will be the
least of it: “Black Swan” ultimately de- scends into a world of brutalizing horror,
replete with graphic images that recall “Fight Club” more than “The Red Shoes.” (Aronofsky is, after all, the man who brought us the indelibly stomach-turning images of “Requiem for a Dream.”) But Aronofskymakes sure to balance the repul- sion with moments of astonishing beauty, especially on stage, when Portman con- vincingly flits and flutters to Tchaikovsky’s familiar strains. Although she is receiving deserved recognition for a brave, uncom- promising lead performance, the real breakout in “Black Swan” is Kunis, who provides incandescent ballast to Portman’s delicately tortured waif. In Aronofsky’s febrile world of doppelgangers and taboo desires, these two actresses make persua- sive sisters under the skin in a movie that takes the concept to its most hallucinatory and (literally) goosebump-raising limits.
hornadaya@washpost.com
rrr½ R. At area theaters. Contains strong sexual
content, disturbing violent images, profanity and some drug use. 103 minutes
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