Film Review: MARTE UM (MARS ONE): A Family Film Inspiring Mutual Respect and Hope [Sundance 2022]

Marte Um Review

Marte Um (2022) Film Review from the 45th Annual Sundance Film Festival, a movie directed by Gabriel Martins, starring Rejane Faria, Carlos Francisco, Camilla Damiano, and Cicero Lucas.

Personal goals and ambition collide with outside events that force members of a lower-middle classá Brazilian family to reevaluate each other’s attitudes.

The Martins are much like millions of families all over the world. They live on a modest budget in what could be described as a blue collar suburb of a major city. They have lofty goals nonetheless, and they dream big. But it’s not pie-in-the-sky; they keep their feet on the ground. Wellington, the patriarch, works hard as a building superintendent. He hopes that one day his son, Deivinho, will fully embrace his natural talent at soccer that will lift the boy out of obscurity into superstardom.

Matriarch Tércia’s hopes are practical and grounded and making sure the house runs smoothly day to day. She keeps the best peace at home and at work as a per diem housekeeper. Eunice, the older daughter, hopes that her romance with an upper-class woman will blossom into a live-in partnership.

But Deivinho wants more than sports in his life. His hero is not Juan Pablo Sorin, a local soccer hero and Wellington’s acquaintance. Only Eunice knows that he has every intention of joining the Mars One mission. He never misses a podcast by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. He sneaks off to junkyards in search of items to construct a telescope.

According to Gabriel Martins, directing his first feature, the election of ultraconservative Jair Bolsonaro as President has cast a pall over the nation. This doesn’t appear much in evidence to this reviewer. Instead this is a deeply personal and unflinching look into a family’s struggles and their fortitude as they try to maintain a semblance of serenity and security in their lives.

The election notwithstanding, however, a series of events, some deliberate, others apparently random, hamper their efforts. Tércia has lost income due to a client’s holiday plans, and then gets scared (literally) out of her wits by a prank bomb explosion for a TV show. She begins to experience symptoms of PTSD, but insists she’s a dangerous jinx.

Father-son loggerhead causes critical mass when Deivinho balks at Sorin’s arrangement for a semi-professional soccer tryout at Wellington’s request. Traditional paternal pride could be just as much at issue as fame and financial security. What blue-collar dad wouldn’t want to bask in the reflected glory of a sports-legend son? A seductive and insidious situation for Wellington. He could have realized that divergent goals were not necessarily mutually exclusive. Deivinho confides to Eunice that he sees no reason why he can’t love soccer and astrophysics equally.

Wellington might have seen his son’s point of view, had he discussed it with his 12-Step sponsor–if he had one. Or shared it with an open-discussion group and got some feedback. But instead, his frustration resulted in a poor decision at work, the result of which his manager-boss got robbed. His shining work record couldn’t save him, and he lost his job along with his reputation. Deivinho’s own frustration led to defiance. Instead of staying home to rest up for the tryout, he took a long-standing dare on his bicycle. For Wellington, this added insult to his son’s injuries as well as his own with the tryouts out of the picture. Not surprisingly, Wellington went on a bender and broke his four-year sobriety.

In the meantime, Eunice deals with the family’s reaction to her relationship with Joana. Not because it’s same-sex; in fact, each meets the other’s parents, who are warm and supportive on both sides. The issue is the Martins’ dependence on Eunice in the midst of family turmoil. But she feels the time is right and stands her ground.

The abrupt, powerful scene in which Tércia attacked the same television crew that shattered her peace of mind manages to enhance the logic of the film. Smashing the camera was cathartic for Tércia, but her detainment at the bus station saved her from being a fatality on the bus she was to take for a rest cure. The film remains loyal to the theme of family integrity, which survives the changes that its members must face in order to grow as individuals.

The final scene ties up wonderfully. Deivinho, his telescope constructed, has it set up in the back yard, where they gather and each get a peek at Mars. By this time the Mars One project had been officially abandoned, but not the dream of one.

As if the director surnamed the family after his own weren’t enough, the fact that Sorin is actually a professional soccer player underscores the strong possibility that this work is at least partly autobiographical. This accounts for the movie’s raw ambiance, almost like a docudrama. For the Martins, their real unity lies in love and mutual respect, not fame, wealth, or position.

Rating: 8/10

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