cinéwomen/15
the plagiarism, the copying, and the imitation, appropriation happened. A director shouldn’t be persecuted by the idea of not being original, and shouldn’t be tormented by the thought of copying. Through it, skills can be acquired, and good films are created. “Violeta” is not an adaptation, it doesn’t retell any story, but it sets a mutual relationship with several other works. The “Jeanne Dielman 23 quai du commerce 1080 Bruxelles” film is the most bright one. This quality script reciprocity is taken as an implicit quote, not denying that it is there, but merely nodding at it. Violeta is a movie talking about life with the women who relate themselves to the traits of the character, who, in turn, is based on characteristics of all of them. It is a movie dialoguing with cinema, with
“Jeanne Dielman,” by its great scenery and perfect scene construction, by Chantal Akerman. It is a film intimate with literature, with Fernando Pessoa, featuring the Livro do Desassossego as the tone of the off-screen voice, as an abstract thought, quoting some verses entirely. It is a piece of art related to philosophy and the great fascination with the prospect of ambiguity: the mirror reflects an identical and false image. Concepts upon which Plato’s critique about simulations are set upon. The intertextuality, when easily perceived and taken as it is, drives the viewer to reflect upon the reason behind its use and to understand the final purpose better. If we associate the object and its reference, I believe the comparison and contrast with “Jeanne Dielman 23 quai du commerce 1080 Bruxelles” immediately pops up. There is a dialogue between the two