One of the great dames of the stage, television, and motion pictures, Marieta Severo plays Miguel’s mother, Helena. She is the only player who takes the part of the same character in both epochs of the film. In the 70s her big worry is with her son, Miguel, a political prisoner in the Ilha Grande Penitentiary. Now, in 2004, her concern lies with her granddaughter, Juliana, hanging out in the shantytown. Matriarch in both situations, she defends her family at all costs.

Talk a little bit about your character

The character has three moments. In the first one she looks quite young and already shows us something of her life, positioning her character with her thoughts, her upbringing and her anxieties. Later the film shows her older, and I see her miserable because of events, through her son‘s involvement in radical politics.She tries not to take part in this context but ends up being “obliged” because of Miguel. In the other moment she is made miserable by her granddaughter, then she is worried about other things, with drugs, drug dealers. This is, finally, a more modern approach, contemporary, and is the reality we see in the young people today. The most interesting aspect of my character is that throughout the film she is made miserable by events; she modifies her life because of her family, she doesn’t exert any power over her reality, and she is not the owner of her destiny. At the end of the film she says something that symbolizes hope, which is interesting because it shows that she has power, but is not aware of it. She shows this power, so much so that her granddaughter takes refuge with her, and this I find beautiful.

Talk a little about the film, what impressed you the most, how do you see the film?

I like the film a lot. It tells our story, with a dynamic narrative, and mainly from a human point of view, through the two main characters. Lúcia manages to bring this story closer to us. I think it speaks volumes about what has happened in our country in the last 40 years. Through the construction of the script, and the editing, is represented, through these two characters, the meeting between these two worlds. I find the film touching, moving, being an encounter of human beings, being though this trajectory, finally, a film that interests the viewer.