Gorgeously filmed (with only the very faintest whiff of a Stella Artois advertisement), Found Memories is another spin on the “strong will of youth overcomes staid obsolescence of age” archetype. The full, original title of the film is actually Stories That Only Live When Remembered, which should give you a pretty good idea of the sort of tone the movie takes.

The debut feature of director Julia Murat, the Brazilian drama Memories concerns itself with the unleavened existence of bread maker Madalena (Sonia Guedes), who goes about her daily baking tasks with little remaining zest.

That’s until the wanderer Rita (Lisa Favero) finds her way into both the town of Jotuomba and Madalena’s life and jolts what had been a sleepy, reactionary sort of burg into new life and runs up against interference from an authoritarian priest.

Despite the story’s obvious parallels with significantly more mawkish entertainments on the order of, say, the insufferable, retrograde Chocolat, Memories is far more sly and seductive about its attack plan, no more so than in its lovely establishing shots from director of photography Lucio Bonelli.

With his help, Memories emerges as a movie that truly does function as something both vaguely remembered and experienced anew once again.

Found Memories plays in Theater 2 at 5 p.m.

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(credit: MSPIFF)

Other Highlights: Friday, April 27

Gun Fight. Colin Goddard, one of the subjects of this documentary look at gun violence in America, will be attending this screening. He became a gun control advocate after surviving the Virginia Tech massacre of 2007. (Theater 1; 4:30 p.m.)

Farewell, My Queen. Underrated French director Benoit Jacquot’s new movie — a Marie Antoinette pic staring Inglourious Basterds‘ Diane Kruger — opened the Berlin International Film Festival. (Theater 1; 7:10 p.m.)

Juan of the Dead. Lesson #1 for aspiring horror movie directors: make your movie about zombies and give it a title that joshes Shaun of the Dead. Watch the fest screenings come lurching your way. (Theater 2; 10 p.m.)

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For the festival schedule, and a complete listing of all the movies being shown, click here. Ticket information is available here.

For more of the WCCO Movie Blog’s coverage on the MSPIFF, click here.