“The golden anniversary of 1968 is off to a provocative start with … In the Intense Now. The movie is at once melancholy, inspiring, and evocative.” —New York Review of Books online
“A haunting record of history made poetic. Reminiscent of the films of Chris Marker … an immersive and highly personal film. Hypnotic in its provocation.” —Variety
Brazilian documentarian João Moreira Salles’s most recent film captures the idealism and excitement of 1968, a time when everything felt possible. The cine-essay begins with amateur footage shot by the director’s mother on a trip to China during the Cultural Revolution. Then Salles collages together dramatic scenes of international uprising, including France’s student protests and general strikes in May, the March of the One Hundred Thousand in Rio de Janeiro in June, and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August that marked the end of the Prague Spring. Narrated in the first person, Salles’s voice adds personal rumination and analysis as he looks back to these fleeting moments of intensity, when people living in uncertain times believed in the possibility of changing the world. In Portuguese, French, and Czech with English subtitles. 2017, DCP, 127 minutes.
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