Brazilian-born director Karim Aïnouz’s tender if languid tripartite feature starts on the Brazilian beach of the title. Lifeguard Donato (Wagner Moura) dives into the waves to try to save two German tourists caught in the riptide. One drowns, but he saves the other, Konrad (Clemens Schick), and they quickly become lovers. The second part finds Donato living with Konrad in Berlin for the winter, no less in love but homesick, jobless and unsure if he can live permanently somewhere without a beach. The last section jumps some years ahead, when a visitor from Donato’s past arrives to stir up painful feelings and throw into relief how much has changed. Impatient viewers may feel the film could have lost 10 or 20 minutes of exquisitely composed shots where people just walk or drive around landscapes, and clearly Aïnouz may have watched Claire Denis’s Beau Travail a few too many times (haven’t we all?), but ultimately it’s an immensely likable movie, impeccably acted and wise about the nature of exile.
