Oliveira brings a dry, sensual elegance to this tale of hearts confounded by circumstances and silences, and he portrays social formalities as mating rituals for human animals on the verge of brutality.

NEWYORKER: Eccentricities of a Blond Hair Girl

Human rights groups have often accused South African police of brutality.

BBC: Africa

One is that it renders brutality, as a driver of the course of human events, hard to see and even harder to gauge.

NEWYORKER: Obama, the Prequel