Search - Alice's House (A Casa de Alice) on DVD

JoAnn B. from PAWTUCKET, RI
Reviewed on 12/21/2011...

Very real. Well done drama about a woman re examining her life. Carla Ribas is good. Berta Zemel is excellent.

Gritty Look at Poverty & Aspiration

The Movie Man | Maywood, New Jersey USA | 07/23/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Alice's House" is a crowded high-rise apartment building in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Alice (Carla Ribas) is a middle-aged manicurist who shares an apartment with her cabdriver husband, three grown sons, and elderly mother. The husband is having an affair with a teenage neighbor, one son is a gay hustler and another is a petty thief. Both Alice and husband appear to be in denial as they lie about their home life and finances to other people. Only grandma (Berta Zemel) sees everything as it actually is and, ironically, she is going blind. Alice sees new possibilities for herself when a one-time lover comes into the beauty parlor for a manicure. Like Alice, he is married -- to Alice's best customer -- but he's sexy, wealthy, and far more attentive to her than her husband.

Director Chico Teixeira has crafted a drama of family, friendship, betrayal, and frustration. Ms. Ribas is particularly effective, and we feel both the physical and emotional claustrophobia of her situation. The film in Portuguese with English subtitles. Special features include a behind-the-scenes featurette and interviews with Chico Teixeira and Carla Ribas."