The Kegelstatt Trio

Azevedo’s latest feature is a spry and engaging adaptation of the only play written by iconic nouvelle vague filmmaker Éric Rohmer. Shot during the pandemic lockdown, The Kegelstatt Trio appropriately takes place in isolation, within and around a beach house; a transitory, theatrical space, designed by the great Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira, in which a former couple, now close friends, meet regularly to discuss love and music and to inch their friendship ever closer towards something between tenderness and, possibly, a deeper commitment. The eponymous Mozart piece plays a major role by defining music and musicality as a logic of this film that dances nimbly between acting and rehearsal, between different languages, and between melancholy and the joyful elan of a performance high. The Kegelstatt Trio reveals Azevedo Gomes ever refining her filmmaking, inspiring enchanting and moving performances from her actors that include her regular collaborator Rita Durão, French actor-director Pierre Léon and Spanish avant-garde filmmaker Adolfo “Ado” Arrieta playing the role of a director seemingly enraptured by the creative process.