Ca Dentro

A short drama from Portugal, directed by Tiago Pimentel, written by Pimentel and Antonio Miguel Pereira and starring Sara Rio Frio, Ruben Garcia and Fabiola Lebre.

Just explaining that ''Ca dentro'' is a Portuguese phrase that means ''inside here''.

This film is more character-driven than story-driven and it focuses on a meaningful situation or perhaps a meaningful interaction between two individuals. These two people are a woman (Frio) and a man (Garcia) who are inside a room by themselves, sitting on a bed. It is indicated that the woman is a call girl and the man has repeatedly arranged intimate meetings between them. This encounter begins with erotic intentions that involve her putting on the same dress that he keeps on bringing for her to wear, an old radio playing music, intimate dancing and touching. However, things get quite emotional, changing the situation.

There is no conversation here. These two characters do not speak to each other, instead, they communicate between them via actions and meaningful looks. The verbal words in this short consist solely of the woman's thoughts, therefore making the viewer experience the events through her perspective. However, much of the film is word-free, concentrating instead in the interactions between the two protagonists that crucially do not involve erotic activities, even though they are evidently intended.

Pimentel is responsible for the cinematography and his terrific work earned the Best Cinematography Award at the Okotoks Film Festival 2020. The film also gains from dramatic music.

There are scenes that involve another woman (Libre), who is wondering alone at a boulder beach. Whether this person actually exists in this story or is generated by the other woman's imagination is unclear, however, it is suggested that the woman by the ocean represents the way the other woman is feeling, lost and alone, not comprehending where her life is heading and what she needs to do.

Through the words in her thoughts, it is understood that the woman in the room has lost control of her life. That she has become detached from herself and from the world in general and her interactions with this man have played a part in making her feel that way, as when she is with him, she is asked to be someone else, someone she is not. As for the man, even though he does not say a word, he seems to be having troubles of his own that involve the inability to do what he wants to do or maybe that he does not know what he wants or maybe both.

To a degree, this is a story about intimate desires. What the screenplay focuses on primarily are feelings of self-reflection, self-esteem and self-discovery.

An intimate and emotional short drama that relies on inner thoughts and speechless performances in order to communicate its messages.