"Vinil Verde" is an award-winning 16-minute live action short film from 2004, so this one will soon have its 15th anniversary. Ii is an early, but not very early career effort by writer and director Kleber Mendonça Filho and with this work he demonstrates his talent and vision already. By now he is among Brazil's most successful filmmakers this millennium. I also guess he is not a big fan of the color green. Actually, this did not really feel like a motion picture because it is "only" a collection of photographs shown one after the next while the narrator tells this story. In Portuguese of course, so make sure you get a good set of subtitles if you aren't fluent. Understanding the narration is crucial for this one and given the good job Ivan Soares did, I am surprised this is still his only credit as of 2017. Even if it took a bit for me to get used to the visual style you otherwise mostly find in comic book films, it was an effective watch. I cared for what limb would be missing next after the arms and I was curious about the secret behind the green gloves, even if the ending did not really convince me. And I just could not stop wondering why she gave her daughter the green record at all. Was it some test about how she would obey the words of her mother. I'm not sure. The fact that the photo story takes away from the creepy aspect wasn't a problem for me. It's still a pretty thrilling watch and you should check it out. Thumbs up.
Review of Green Vinyl
