Nina (2004)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Heitor Dhalia

Writers:

Marçal Aquino (writer)
Heitor Dhalia (writer)

Genre:

Drama | Animation | Thriller

Plot:

Psychological thriller larded with manga-like animations about the young, poor comic strip illustrator Nina, living with her mean landlady. She sinks further and further into a violent fantasy world. |

Plot Keywords:

Landlady | Loneliness | Urination | Panties | Humiliation

Awards:

3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Guta Stresser	...	Nina
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Milhem Cortaz	...	Carlão
Anderson Faganello	...	Tatuado / Tatoo Boy
Abrahão Farc	...	Sr. Freak
Juliana Galdino	...	Ana
Heitor Goldflus	...	Homem na lanchonete
Ailton Graça	...	Policial / Policeman #3
Sabrina Greve	...	Sofia
Luíza Mariani	...	Alice
Altamiro Martins	...	Médico / Doctor
Selton Mello	...	Amigo de Ana / Ana's Friend
Wagner Moura	...	Cego / Blind Man
Myrian Muniz	...	Eulália
Matheus Nachtergaele	...	Pintor / Painter #2
Walter Portela	...	Detetive #1
Lázaro Ramos	...	Pintor / Painter #1
Eduardo Semerjian	...	Policial / Policeman #4
Renata Sorrah	...	Prostituta / Hooker
Nivaldo Todaro	...	Detetive #2
Guilherme Weber	...	Arthur

Runtime:

85 min | Brazil:90 min

Country:

Brazil

Language:

Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Brazil:16

Filming Locations:

São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Company:

Branca Filmes

Movie Connections:

References Vertigo (1958)

Raskolnikov draws cartoons in Sao Paulo

A farcical, highly abridged adaptation of Dostoevsky's _Crime and Punishment_ set in contemporary Sao Paulo. The protagonist is an underemployed girl who wallpapers her room with the dark, manga-like cartoons she draws. This is perhaps indicative of her introversion, her immersion in a world of fantastic ideas and impressions; when events elicit highly charged reactions, these are rendered as cartoons. The girl's nemesis is her shrewish, niggardly landlady, who is rendered very convincingly detestable (in far more detail than Alena Ivanovna was). How Nina deals with her will come as no surprise to readers of the original novel but here that crime becomes a culmination of the story rather than its centerpiece. The focus, instead, is on the straitened youthful existence that leads up to it. A highlight of the film is Nina's encounter and tryst with a very characterful blind man.

"Nina" is an entertaining affair with none of the religious depth and anxiety of the book it is based on.