Trabalhar Cansa

Trabalhar Cansa never sets itself to be a horror movie, it doesn't toy with the genre's traditions nor assumes them.

The movie has its own logic, one that respects the greater theme of problematic infrastructural work relations, and does it so by successfully applying its concept to the filmmaking. The cards are all in the table, and the movie plays with them to the maximum effect.

By doing that, the darkness of it all becomes much more evident, necessarily so. What I like about it is that, although I don't consider it to be a horror movie per say (neither some kind of "anti-horror" or "post horror", whatever that means), the movie is never afraid to portray visually dark imagery, because it has the right motivations to do so, perfectly balanced.

The movie only gets so disturbing because its concept and theme is also horrifying. And I felt that a lot, it shows on the character's behaviors (basically every character arc is an identity or sanity loss), it shows on the directing (still images, but beautifully crafted and framed to maximum effect), even on the wardrobe (the maid's character).

I chose to give Trabalhar Cansa (Hard Labor) a 10/10 because it does what I enjoy most about movies, that being the everlasting consciousness, the feeling that the themes effectively affect the filmmaking and vice-versa - it gives me a feeling that exists a thinking person behind the film, thinking every step of the process to get the message accross. Brilliant.