Tales of Tomorrow (In English)

Synopsis: In 2165, Michele’s kidnapping puts the city-state Porto 01, the last stronghold of human civilization, in a state of war. The problem is that to save Porto 01 it will be necessary to count on the help of Jefferson, a high school student who lives in 1999.
Directed by: Pedro de Lima Marques
Original Title: Contos do Amanhã | Tales of Tomorrow (2020)
Genre: Sci Fi
Runtime: 1hr 25min
Country: Brazil

Flirting with the Future

Despite being exhibited in regionalist programme from the 48th edition of the Gramado Festival, “Tales of Tomorrow” (closing night film from 2020 Other Worlds Film Festival) presents a much more inspired and creative work than most of the national and international competitive crop. Converging the reference of fantasy and science fiction films of the last decades, the film directed by Pedro de Lima Marques is universalist from the bottom up. A science fiction that brings, in the prologue, the consequences of a crisis on the planet that left us, in the middle of the 21st century, with only 20% of the original population. The date we look for, however, is June 6 from 2165, where the parallel events from Jefferson’s life will occur. The director, with some short films in his curriculum, is also responsible for the script, editing and visual effects of the film. In fact, this point is crucial for its quality and Marques knows how to use his experience well (he is also the supervisor of this sector in the exceptional short film “Fragments in the Wind: 1945“, also presented in Gramado this year).

The movie takes place in 1999, on the eve of the “millennium bug“, initially solved before Earth stopped. The protagonist is a teenager who, despite good grades, show yourself a late person and de advised by teachers to be less sluggish. The nostalgic audience will identify “SimCity” (the game) and ICQ (the instant messages program) on the computer and remember the parents charges for having connected on the dial-up internet during the day. This narrative approach is similar to the examples of the genre made in the 1980s and the filmmaker uses this adolescent plot to present a very inventive film, without being confused. Creating a parallel with the reality of Jefferson (who learns about anarchism and wants to follow the path of political participation by joining the students association from his school), Marques changes the course of history to approach a dystopia more consistent with the entertainment cinema of the last years.

There was also a risk that the result would be a jumble of fanciful sequences without a well-cemented narrative. After all, we are talking about a young director, who need to adapt his imagination to an independent cinema project. However, “Tales of Tomorrow” achieves this in a commendable way, capable of attract a viewer further from alternative movie events. It is likely that, in the middle of a set of feature films with strong themes, languages and aesthetics closer to the audience of a festival, Pedro’s film will be classified as an escapist or an entertainment that does not carry the relevance to be there. We bet exactly the opposite, that this movie presence in the regional section of Gramado, enriches the panoramic view on local production.

It makes us wonder if we really didn’t bug as a society at that turn of the millennium. The doubts raised about the spatio-temporal constitution of “Tales of Tomorrow” are also applicable to us. A mixture of nightmares, with a state of coma and an inescapable reality. A film that demands many effects inserted on post-production and, even without great signs of having a robust budget, is convincing in its proposal and with a great editing work. The political bias of the narrative and the need to contextualize an imagined future demands a space, in the middle of the projection, for more direct explanations. Even so, the filme doesn’t use this tool in a exaggerate form and follows the manual of a good adventure history, with the journey towards redemption (from Jefferson, not the park*) where, after two hundred years, he finally can see what his head adolescent indecisiveness did not allow it – even in front of his nose.

*Redemption Park is the popular name from Farroupilha Park, located in the city of Porto Alegre, capital from Rio Grande do Sul state, where Gramado Festival happens.

Watch a teaser: