DANAE

DANAE
Fiction | 35mm | 2004 | 09 minutes
Independent production

SYNOPSIS: A woman and a man are kissing in a park. Time passes, the relationship cools down and the man leaves Maria. She suffers. Until an unknown woman embraces her from behind. Maria rediscovers feelings that had been stifled by anger.

Watch the film: Vimeo

- Shown in 20 film festivals in Brazil and abroad, including Santa Maria da Feira (Portugal, 04), Expresión en Corto (Mexico, 05), São Paulo (Brazil, 05), Uppsala (Sweden, 05) and Santiago (Chile, 06)
- Purchased by Curta Petrobras às Seis and by Programadora Brasil

Directed, produced and written by: Gustavo Galvão
Director of photography: André Carvalheira
Art director: Rosane Torres
Editor: Marcius Barbieri
Sound editor: Pauly Di Castro
Soundtrack: Superquadra
Cast: Larissa Salgado, Vinícius Ferreira, Catarina Accioly, André Amaro

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Full of allegoric elements, myths are a way of explaining anything that defies logic. Danae is used as a means of understanding human sexuality. In Greek mythology, she was a woman whose extraordinary beauty seduced Zeus. Danae was sound asleep when this god came to visit her, disguised in a golden rain. From this love, with no physical contact whatsoever, Perseus was born.

This myth represents praise for both women’s fertility and ability to seduce, and is an excuse for discussing female eroticism. Based on the story of Maria, this film’s script intends to show the many phases of love – starting off from one woman, Maria, whose life changes dramatically when a stranger embraces her in the park. After the embrace, a kiss makes her blush and enlivens her spirit. The stranger, who appears and disappears like an angel, brings about a small revolution in Maria. At first sad and colorless, the character is reborn.

In the end, Danae gives Maria the opportunity of taking an active role in the story – and she does so with an anguished man. This time, it is Maria who behaves like an angel. The film shows this woman’s transformation in the process of discovering her own sexuality. This is the first part of a trilogy of short films about sexuality with no dialogs. The other shorts are: A Night with Her (Uma Noite Com Ela, 2005) and Life Next Door (A Vida ao Lado, 2006).