Inspired by Turn of the Screw by Henry James, Mãos no Fogo is a dark chamber piece by Margarida Gil that follows Maria do Mar, a young filmmaker, documenting an old manor house in Portugal for her thesis project on "The Real in Cinema." The film is beautifully shot with a cinematography that captures a picturesque quality in its search for the remainders of the beauty of a time past. It offers many frames resembling paintings, e.g., shots of Carolina Campanela laying naked on the bed bear a closeness to Edgar Degas' art.
Right from the beginning we enter into a place reminiscent of a fairy tale with beautiful views where nature is felt like the border delineating the magic sensation of this mansion. Something not too distant to the settings of Call Me by Your Name (2017) and how that villa gave the story a beautiful scenario for it to take place. Once there, Maria starts filming everything she can, the cook, the kids, the governess, the furniture, the neighbor singing girl, etc. The ennui of the summer is a strong presence bathing the atmosphere and slowing the passing of time, offering a mirror-like experience to that of the old manor taking place, diluted remnants of what already has been. It isn't long enough till Maria starts sensing there's more than meets the eye in the house. Secrets rendering interpersonal dynamics difficult to read but presenting an opportunity to disclose and being closer to her purpose of finding the truth, the essence behind what history changed.
There is a clear impossibility taking place if one considers that the camera only captures fleeting moments devoid of any essence, if by it we refer to the impermeability of something. Like Maria's diary notes, truth and reality, are not static but in constant movement. A flow erasing what time committed to memory. The secrets harboring in the manor are also committed to memory, if only by their unwillingness to find articulation in certainty, as if reproducing them in the form of words would enliven them. Whether the gap between the real and fantasy is blurred or identifiable, the hints offering an attempt at some clarity never materialize in terms of certainty and find comfort in gazes filled with erotic tension. If pleasure and sacrifice are not only interchangeable terms but also the key that opens the door to what lies unearthed, then this intellectual cinematic experience is one that will stay with you after seeing it.
