Hailed by international critics, this “Brazilian wonder” treats unusual, yet timeless, universal themes with realistic, documentary-like narrative details. Araby is a study in loneliness and despair, but not without glimmers of hope and love, however fleeting. In the old aluminium factory near his home, teenage André finds the diary of a former worker. The film proceeds to visually reconstruct the diary, a seemingly uneventful story of the long-dead man’s travels through time and space. He ends up in jail, works at a quarry (among other jobs), falls in love, breaks up, looks for new love… In essence, this is an impeccable portrait of an unremarkable life, free of major plot twists, on the fringes of society and civilization, on the fringes of understanding. The exceptionally convincing, understated and realistic use of cinematic technique and the complex narrative structure create a striking, thoughtprovoking metaphor. A combination of a neo-realistic biopic and pure formalism.