Watch In Vanda's Room

In Vanda's Room, a 2000 Portuguese film, directed and written by Pedro Costa, follows the life of Vanda Duarte, a young woman, living in the Fontaínhas neighborhood, on the outskirts of Lisbon. Vanda is drug-addicted, unemployed, and homeless. She lives with her sister, Lena Duarte, and their elderly grandmother, Zita Duarte. The film focuses on the everyday life of Vanda and her relatives, their struggles, and the consequences of living in a poor community.

The film explores a unique and unconventional approach to filmmaking, with Costa combining documentary-style interviews and footage with scripted scenes, seamlessly blurring fiction and reality. The observational approach of the filmmaker immerses the audience into the life of the characters, capturing the harsh and realistic portrayal of the Fontaínhas neighborhood.

Vanda's daily routine involves consuming drugs, which she prepares and smokes in her room. Lena, who works in a factory, supports the family financially and is shown struggling to cope with the responsibility of providing for her sister and grandmother. Zita, who is blind, spends most of her time indoors. The tension between the family members is evident, constantly squabbling and bickering, often about trivial matters.

Throughout the film, Vanda's character struggles with addiction, visits a clinic, and attends group therapy sessions. The audience is privy to her attempts to quit drugs and her constant relapses. The intense portrayal of Vanda's struggle with addiction offers a clear and uncompromising representation of addiction, often uncomfortable to watch but never exploitative.

The film examines the social and political issues affecting the community, such as racism, poverty, and exclusion. A scene where Vanda and her friend discuss the impact of Portuguese colonialism in Africa illustrates the emotional weight of these issues. The characters' dialogues are politically charged, often poised as criticisms of Portugal's colonial past, and how it affects marginalized populations.

The cinematography of In Vanda's Room uses a low light technique, often making the audience feel as though they are in Vanda's room, emphasizing the claustrophobia of the space. The film's usage of long and static shots creates a visual representation of the slowness of everyday life in the neighborhood, which acts as a metaphor for the social stagnation of its inhabitants.

The film's score is minimal, incorporating sound design as an extension of the environment. The film's sound mirrors the visual aspects, as the slow and uneventful ambiance captures the bleak, hopeless, yet generative environment in the Fontaínhas neighborhood.

In Vanda's Room is a poignant example of authentically portraying the lives of the underprivileged. Through Vanda's character, the audience is given access to a community that is often ignored by mainstream cinema. The film manages to challenge the viewers' conventional expectations, as the characters are not made to be pitied or judged, but for the audience to observe, understand and reflect upon.

In conclusion, the film's intimate exploration of hardscrabble life in the suburbs of Lisbon, well nourished with a potent blend of realism and artistic flair, makes In Vanda's Room, a vividly visceral and emotionally gripping experience. With its distinctive filmmaker's aesthetic, In Vanda's Room, delivers a visual and sensory experience that demands attention from the viewer, reflecting the authentic life of socio-economically deprived communities.