In Vanda's Room

This is the second part of Pedro Costa's "Fontainhas" trilogy, following and preceding . The trilogy is named after a slum on the outskirts of Lisbon, where the filmmaker became friends with people he has invited back in various films – a slum that has virtually disappeared. The first two films reveal the daily malaise of people who struggle to survive in this underworld on earth: a woman and her baby in , and two addicts named Vanda and Zita in . Costa didn't capture them from afar, but rather immersed himself in the community. His rigorous formalism dictated that precisely the right light and the appropriate distance from the people had to be found, and that he as the filmmaker should be on the same footing as his subjects. Exploitation and sensation were impermissible. In fact, Costa sought out the contrary: his patient observations play down the scenes. There's no plot here, and the action regularly jumps around in time, but it remains unclear as to what has happened in the interim. This isn't important though – in Costa's mind, the primary function of cinema is to make the beholder feel that something is completely out of whack.