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Eduardo Escorel's handsome period drama, "Lesson in Love," is based on a 1927 novel by Brazilian writer Mário de
Andrade, best-known for the now classic "Macunaíma." It was his first film as director. The setting is fabulously
beautiful--the home of a wealthy planter in São Paulo state. Luxury is obvious in this upper middle-class home consisting
of the father and mother and their adolescent son, Carlos. Escorel's film, like Andrade's novel, contrasts the evident beauty
and ease of the setting against the emotional and moral landscape of the family: the planter/father has hired a German governess,
Elza, ostensibly to teach Carlos German. But really to initiate him into sex and relationships with women. The film turns
on the relationship that develops between Elza and Carlos, who, predictably, start to fall in love with each other. Elza has
to be true to her contract; she is just as tightly fettered by this house and its economic/emotional system as the family
for whom she works.
This is a troubling film that displays the deftness with which Brazilians can tell stories about emotional, social, and
economic limitations. It is a masterpiece of cinematography, acting, and film direction.
Note: Eduardo Escorel (born in 1945) is considered one of Brazil's finest film editors, having been responsible for the
editing of such films as Glauber Rocha's "Land in Anguish/Terra em Transe" and "Antônio das Mortes," Joaquim
Pedro de Andrade's "Macunaíma," and two of Leon Hirszman's films that are proposed in this series: "São Bernardo"
and "They Don't Wear Black Tie / Eles Não Usam Black-Tie".
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Director: Eduardo Escorel
Screenplay: Eduardo Escorel, Eduardo Coutinho
Adapted from: "Amor, Verbo Intransitivo" ("Fräulein") by Mário de Andrade
Set design: Anísio Medeiros
Cast: Lilian Lemmertz (Fräulein Elza), Irene Ravache (Dona Laura, the mother), Rogério Froes (Felisberto Sousa Costa,
the father), Marcos Taquechel (Carlos, the son)
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