His Name (The Clown)

They met in the summer, in the rain. A film of carnival and silence. His Name (The Clown) is a surface film – based on newspaper news and daily life in large Brazilian cities, but without any direct link to any real event. Violence, joy and silence are worked on in the film in order to build a space where characters are as real as they are intangible – in a narrative of short marked sequences, in which a whirlwind of events mixes with a stitching of fragments and gaps: He is a quiet man and divides his time between his violent work in downtown Rio de Janeiro and his boarding house in Catumbi. She is the girl who appears in his life, on a rainy afternoon – and soon things start to go by very quickly. A film of carnival and silence, of love and anger – of apathy and will. A chronicle of the conflicts and festivities of a city sewn between hills, forests and cement. A tribute to Rio, perhaps?

Directed by Felipe Bragança, Marina Meliande, His Name (The Clown) leans on a strong ensemble — Sandro Ribeiro, Camila Monteiro — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 2004.