AllMovie

Famed poet Elizabeth Bishop (Miranda Otto) wrestles with creative block before traveling to Rio in the 1950s, and falling into a romance with celebrated architect Lota de Macedo Soares (Gloria Pires) in this biopic based on Carmen L. Oliveira's novel Rare and Commonplace Flowers, and directed by Bruno Barreto. Frustrated by her inexplicable inability to weave words where it once seemed effortless, Bishop accepts an invitation from her old college friend to spend some time at a luxurious country estate in Rio. Despite feeling painfully out of place in her bohemian surroundings, Bishop gradually begins to relax in the company of her friend's partner, socialite de Macedo Soares. The quickly deepening relationship soon unleashes a flood of creativity in Bishop as she quietly struggles with alcoholism but later, after returning to New York, a military coup d'état in Brazil changes everything. Treat Williams co-stars.