MAURICIO Farias, the Brazilian director of ‘VERONICA’, subtly combines two foremost values in filmmaking: (1) Literary qualities of narrative and dialogue, and (2) The visual language of social structure. Not simply figurative structures, where humans dominate the framed scenes we see, but the urban geometric landscape of streets and architecture, and also helpful objects.
From the opening scenes of ‘Veronica’, he lets a half-naked Brazilian boy of African ancestry open a huge striped multicoloured umbrella which fills the screen, and this everyday object is transformed (Like Duchamp’s bicycle wheel, spade, urinal etc) into a Constructivist art object aided by its inner web/structure framed by the screen.
As the film progresses, we will encounter, or at times inhabit (if we are not too biased by an interest in human drama at the expense of structural environmental observation) the old and new modern architecture of Rio: The coloured house-fronts and fence walls; the geometric angles of street intersections; the inside of a hospital, its long, well-worn corridors with billowing ward blinds like blank canvasses; the unique architecture of an apartment building whose convoluted entrances, exits, balconies, stairways come to the aid of Veronica fleeing pursuing villains who want the flash-drive with incriminating evidence placed on the innocent child by his endangered father.

Creative influences
Farias’ structural yet fluid direction reflects the pervasive influence of Brazilian Constructivist Fine-art, particularly Lygia Clark, Helio Oiticica, and Hercules Barzotti. As well, the film’s cinematic narrative structure proves that a smooth transition from both quality Hollywood and recent European cinema can result in a shared high creative standard.
The film’s title, ‘Veronica’, with its focus on a specific female character in a Brazilian context, belongs to that Classic Hollywood tradition of female-titled films with powerful and unforgettable storylines. Films like: ‘ANN VICKERS’, directed by John Cromwell in 1933; ‘JEZEBEL’, directed by William Wyler in 1938; ‘ROXIE HART’, directed by William Wellman in 1942; three brilliant films by Otto Preminger: ‘LAURA’ of 1944, ‘DAISY KENYON’ of 1947, and ‘CARMEN JONES’ of 1956; also ‘MILDRED PIERCE’, directed by Michael Curtiz in 1945; and ‘CLAUDELLE INGLISH’, directed by Gordon Douglas in 1961, among others.

Contemporary continuities
On the other hand, the idea in ‘Veronica’ of a piece of media technology becoming an object at the centre of the film’s suspense clearly owes something to the beautiful recent Nouvelle Vague classic European film, ‘DIVA’ directed by Jean Jacques Beinix in 1980.
If there is anything ‘New Wave’ about ‘Veronica’, it is Veronica herself, and the director’s subtle use of Constructivist architectural values. Andrea Beltrao as Veronica is a pleasure to watch and listen to, because of her off-hand acting, and her anxiety as a primary school teacher struggling to maintain the interest of her pupils in a callous neighbourhood environment threatened by criminal gangs. From the start, we are shown a contrast between little boys lured away by neighbourhood criminal gangs to become their errand boys, and the schoolboy, Leandro, Veronica adopts when he becomes an orphan due to the very criminal lifestyle his young parents were involved in, of which he was innocent.
This theme in ‘Veronica’ of a divorcee and a young boy fleeing a disturbing materialistic lifestyle echoes Michelle Pfeiffer’s role in ‘MARRIED TO THE MOB’, another recent Hollywood classic by one of its best new directors, Jonathan Demme.  Beltrao’s zesty acting, her independent strong personality in the role of Veronica, contrast touchingly with the child actor De Sa’s natural fascination with the urban life of Rio he is both a product and victim of.
Veronica’s ex-husband, a corrupt detective seduced by the pervasive illegalities around him, at one point shouts back to her moral appeals against his lifestyle: “This is Rio!” Meaning, moral actions are a lost cause. Yet we value Veronica’s commitment even more when we witness the cramped small apartment she lives in and must now share with the orphaned boy, and her friends’ similar urban stress and fear which reflect a social crisis at the heart of their communities and extract a high price for their residence.
The film is an admirable modern feat of Brazilian self-criticism via the art of cinema. Yet it is far from a preachy, commercial, exaggerated ‘socially conscious’ movie. And once again this film learns admirably from Hollywood’s classic tradition at its end, when Veronica’s crooked ex-husband, still in love with her, revives their affection, which makes him realize he must make a choice between pure romantic love, and the materialistic love of extra ‘dirty’ money gained by succumbing to criminality.

Director’s achievement
‘Veronica’ is a compact multi-faceted and multi-layered film which forces us to think and weigh its thematic implications. These implications concern the possible effect of the assertions of a woman’s personal independent modern temperament, and a confident identity resisting pervasive civic malaise which sidetracks a potential pleasurable modern Brazilian lifestyle away from its positive progression in a beautiful country.
By learning and applying the power of such filmmaking from Classic Hollywood themes, ‘Veronica’ becomes a powerful social lesson, paradigmatic of Beltrao’s role as a teacher, and De Sa’s role as her pupil.
Farias’ film picks up this theme like a versatile Brazilian soccer player, rushing delightfully with the ball, and center-forwarding it straight into the social goal of Brazil as a modern nation.