Corpo Elétrico
Director: Marcelo Caetano
Writer: Marcelo Caetano, Gabriel Domingues, Hilton Lacerda
Cast: Kelner Macêdo, Lucas Andrade, Welket Bungué, Ana Flavia Cavalcanti, Daniel Torres, Dani Nefussi, Emerson Ferreira, Ernani Sanchez, Evandro Cavalcante, Georgina Castro, Henrique Zanoni, Linn da Quebrada, Marcia Pantera, Ronaldo Serruya, Teka Romualdo
Seen on: 18.6.2023

Plot:
Elias (Kelner Macêdo) works in a tailoring business as the assistant of the manager. He is dating Cristovão (Daniel Torres), though not without tensions. Generally, Elias seems to be floating through his life with no clear idea of how and where things are supposed to go. When a new hire at work (Welket Bungué) makes Elias a little more curious about his co-workers, it is Wellington (Lucas Andrade) with whom he connects. But the owner of the factory doesn’t really like to see Elias getting closer to the tailors.

Corpo Eléctrico is a sensual film with a very nice flow. Less interested in telling a story, it is more about capturing the feeling of being young, horny and adrift with all the possibilities of life still up for grabs. A feeling it captures very successfully.

Corpo Eléctrico is the kind of film that will make you very antsy if you find yourself unable to get into its flow. After all, Elias is the kind of character who pretty much refuses to make decisions. The film isn’t interested in watching him grow, rather it is all about that moment before decisions are being made, before growth happens.

It’s a freeing feeling to let yourself be able to float that way, but there’s also a bit of anxiety that underlies it all: at one point, he will have to decide something. He will have to figure things out. It seems inevitable that the freedom he is enjoying through his passivity will have to end sometime. But for now, it is also very nice to just float.

The film touches on issues of race and class, on precarious working conditions and privileged ones. But is never stays long with those things, they would have weighed things down too much. Nevertheless their presence contributes to that feeling that the lightness is only a question of time – and that makes it so much more delicious. It also makes it easier to like Elias because he doesn’t come across as completely thoughtless.

As we breeze through the events with Elias, as we get to know the drag community, the film has an equally passive and intriguing presence as Elias himself – and that makes it quite special.

Summarizing: very nice.