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In the Intense Now

Name: In the Intense Now
Director: João Moreira Salles
Released: 2017
Duration: 127 min

Representation Score

6.7/10

Good

2017

Director

João Moreira Salles

Runtime

127 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

João Moreira Salles creates a sophisticated cinematic essay that challenges traditional documentary conventions. The film's primary strength lies in its intellectual disruption of the Western-centric historical gaze, offering a non-linear perspective on global political shifts. By examining movements from the Brazilian military coup to China's Cultural Revolution, the work provides a meaningful, non-didactic representation of global humanity. It succeeds in deconstructing visual authority through a postmodern lens. However, the film's formalist, non-narrative structure means it lacks explicit character-driven identity politics. It remains indifferent to specific social hierarchies, including gender and LGBTQ+ identities, focusing instead on phenomenological observation.

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Category Breakdown

Does In the Intense Now have LGBTQ+ representation?

Limited

The film serves as a contemplative study of human movement and time. It does not include explicit depictions of LGBTQ narratives or specific identity markers due to its formalist structure.

How does In the Intense Now portray gender?

Fair

The narrative centers on universal human movement rather than social hierarchies. It presents a landscape of existence that remains largely indifferent to gendered social roles.

How racially and ethnically diverse is In the Intense Now?

Good

By focusing on the visual history of the Global South and the Eastern Bloc, the film disrupts a Western-centric gaze. It incorporates diverse faces through global political upheavals.

How does In the Intense Now represent religion and culture?

Good

The film critiques the stability of traditional institutions by juxtaposing various revolutionary moments. It prioritizes individual experience and the fluidity of memory over monolithic historical truths.

Does In the Intense Now include disability representation?

Fair

The work captures a wide spectrum of human physicality through its focus on motion. However, representation of disability remains observational and incidental rather than central to the narrative.

Present on Screen

Disrupts the traditional Western-centric documentary gaze by centering the Global South and Eastern Bloc.
Provides a nuanced, non-linear perspective on global political history and human movement.
Engages in high intellectual rigor by deconstructing the traditional documentary gaze and visual authority.

Limited or Absent

Lacks explicit depictions of LGBTQ+ identities or queer-driven narratives.
Does not engage in the subversion of gendered power dynamics or social roles.
Representation of disability is incidental and lacks central narrative ability to act.

Official Synopsis

A personal essay which analyses and compares images of the political upheavals of the 1960s. From the military coup in Brazil to China's Cultural Revolution, from the student uprisings in Paris to the end of the Prague Spring.

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