Light, sound, and some action

João Botelho and poetic recreation in the year of The Death Of Ricardo Reis (2020)

Abstract

This study analyzes the film The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis (2020) by João Botelho, based on the homonymous novel by José Saramago, and focuses on the aesthetic devices and artistic strategies chosen by the director to create depth, texture, and contrasts in the frames of the film. As such, this article examines plays of light and shadows, the presence of mirrors, the inclusion of subtle music, the framing of scenes, the lyricism of dialogues, the texture of materials, and the choice of filming in black and white, among other filming strategies. I study some of the apparent challenges when transposing the novel to film, using cinematographic ploys to separate scenes and frames, the theatricality of certain episodes, the priority given to monologues and dialogues. In the second half of the article, I focus on the camerawork that contrasts the two main female protagonists, Lídia and Marcenda, and amplifies the physical disability of Marcenda whose left hand is paralyzed. The techniques of close-ups, light, mirrors, and framing reiterate with insistence this “visual chorus” of the protagonist’s ailment.