Reaching for the Moon

Reaching for the Moon is a Brazilian drama about the American poet Elizabeth Bishop, who travels from New York to Rio de Janeiro in 1951 to visit Mary, a friend from her university years. The reserved Bishop is unsettled by Brazil and by Mary's partner, the architect Lota de Macedo Soares, whose confidence and energy contrast sharply with her own temperament. What begins as friction between the two women develops into a close attachment, while Mary watches with growing resentment, and the three are drawn into an uneasy arrangement. Their lives unfold against a changing country, and Bishop's writing, long stalled, returns to her as the relationship deepens.

The film was directed by Bruno Barreto, who wrote the screenplay with Matthew Chapman, and it belongs to the later stretch of a career that began with Este Silêncio Pode Significar Muita Coisa in 1970 and includes Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, Gabriela, Carried Away and View from the Top. Miranda Otto plays Bishop, Glória Pires plays Lota, and Tracy Middendorf, Treat Williams, Marcello Airoldi and Lola Kirke appear in supporting roles. Lucy Barreto and Paula Barreto produced.

The film runs 118 minutes and was released in 2013. It holds a rating of 7 out of 10 on IMDb from roughly 3,800 votes, and a rating of 6.6 out of 10 on TMDB from around 104 votes.