Because Bras Cubas actually does very little, this film about his life relies upon style rather than substance. Posthumous Memoirs (Memórias Póstumas) is based on a late 19th century novel by Machado de Assis, which is considered to be a Brazilian masterpiece, and is said to borrow heavily from Laurence Sterne’s Tristam Shandy. As in that novel and recent film interpretation, the narrator constantly intrudes upon the story, with direct appeals to the viewer as he interrupts and analyses the action. He says that audiences follow stories to escape life, and he starts his tale at the end because he is a writer and wants to make his story more ‘interesting and modern’. You soon realise that, despite being a foppish dandy, Bras Cubas (Reginaldo Farias) doesn’t do anything apart from ruminate on random tangents and indulge in shallow philosophies. He eventually dies while trying to invent a miracle poultice, but he never actually gets around to it, and I’m not giving anything away there, because he tells us that at the beginning. Cubas says he leaves life with no deficit or surplus, but although nothing really happens, this film is full of delightful incidents. It is filmed in Sao Paulo, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro and Portugal, with beautiful buildings and settings. The interior scenes look deliberately staged; with wigs and costumes, empty rooms and wooden floors, they resemble a theatrical experience. The music of Mozart and Bach underscores it all with sumptuous sound of waltzes and other period dances. I can see why it won several international film awards, and its excellence lies in the fact that it is almost impossible to explain.—Kate Blackhurst