This Brazilian French co production from 1987 is one of the masterpieces from acclaimed director Carlos Diegues (BYE, BYE BRAZIL, ORFEU). This may be the best film of his long career, and definitely the best, or one of the best Brazilian dramas of the mid and late 1980s. Brazil made the transition to a democracy in the mid 80s, and this movie explores that transition well, though it's not its central theme by any means. This film is really a social drama about a struggling saxophone player from the suburbs. As a result of his girl friend's disappearance, his ride (he takes a lot of trains, the metro system) through Rio exposes him to things which make him lose his theretofore relative innocence. As such, the film is a fascinating trip through Rio's (mostly under-) world. Cameos/small roles by some of Brazil's best actors enhance the experience, as well as the poignant performances by the young people inhabiting the film. Long available in PAL, it is now also available on NTSC. So the American market, and others on that system can see it. That is those who didn't see it back in 1987 & 88. It did get a pretty wide release as an art film everywhere, I remember. I first saw it then. But now, 13 years later, it is especially appealing to Brazil watchers, as one sees how much has changed there, and how much remains the same. The movie features a great soundtrack by Gilberto Gil, and a couple of performances by famed Brazilian Rock Artist, Cazuza, who died of AIDS, a few years after the film was made.
2 Reviews
Of course ... our stars are unreachable.
AL-19829 January 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This is a superb film; 8/10. It succeeds at many levels, at once - really a solar system of levels to mix two inappropriate metaphors.
Briefly, the film is about a young, good-looking aspiring sax player and his cute girlfriend. Both have been ground down by Brazil - unwanted siblings; products of (and I'm an expert through a girlfriend) broken marriages, alcoholism and an addiction to television. The boy, naturally, dreams of being a larger success on saxophone than his deceased father, who played dives and bequeathed him a stack O' vinyl. The girlfriend simply wants out of what is apparently an unsatisfactory life as a shop girl and product of unloving, poor home.
Girl disappears. Director Diegues ingeniously plants a REVERSE red herring. Of all the things that could have happened to the girlfriend - becoming a coke whore is not one of them. That is, this explanation is dismissed outright.
Boyfriend and very crusty black top Brazilian Cop proceed to scour North East Brazil in search of girl. Meanwhile the brother of the boyfriend, 'Dreamy' a greengrocer who lives his life through the filter of his Sony headset, plans a burglary. (He is called 'Dreamy' because he dreams of New York and the English language.)
As Cop and boyfriend search, the ugly/wonderful onion-like layers of North East Brazil are explored and peeled away: shanty towns, crazy- if fun, nightlife, even an aborted human sacrifice when, perhaps, THE most singularly beautiful woman in the world (sans makeup?) produces a biblical miracle which spares her life.
In the end, after a futile search - both for the girl and the missing 'soul' of if you will, the nation, girlfriend turns up. And she was missing BE-CAUSE? Because she HAD entered, out of desperation, into a life of coke whoredom. That's right, the discarded "red herring" explanation; such a beautiful, smart young woman could not possibly have come to this end. But she did. Here are the levels at which this wonderful film works:
1. As a singular entity. Mandatory level.' For any work of art must stand alone; even if it succeeds like, oh, Strawberry Fields, succeeds as a metaphor for so many things, first and foremost it must succeed as a piece of music. Thus did this film work as a work of art, sans genre, etc. 2. As a dual detective story. A. The search for the missing girl and B. The search for National Identity or meaning, in Brazil. 3. As an unintended 80s time capsule. Very much of its age - I still insist the 80s were infinitely more appealing and fun, than the 90s or the 21st! 4. As a frequently bizarre character study. Particularly haunting or for me, terrifying, is that in which boyfriend visits the missing girl's parents - who despise one another. The hubby is a genial, total alcoholic, who, like many grand fools, spouts genius and the mother is a dried up sow's teat, a schizophrenic who worships television, thinks it represents 'progress,' and who screams in terror when the boyfriend turns on the lights in her living room. Truly freaky.
With exceptions, most artists produce weaker work in their later years and while Diegues' God is a Brazilian is fascinating; it cannot hold a candle to this film.
** The real drag is that this film is now out of print. Find it. Watch it. That's an order.
acerf, Winter 2006
Briefly, the film is about a young, good-looking aspiring sax player and his cute girlfriend. Both have been ground down by Brazil - unwanted siblings; products of (and I'm an expert through a girlfriend) broken marriages, alcoholism and an addiction to television. The boy, naturally, dreams of being a larger success on saxophone than his deceased father, who played dives and bequeathed him a stack O' vinyl. The girlfriend simply wants out of what is apparently an unsatisfactory life as a shop girl and product of unloving, poor home.
Girl disappears. Director Diegues ingeniously plants a REVERSE red herring. Of all the things that could have happened to the girlfriend - becoming a coke whore is not one of them. That is, this explanation is dismissed outright.
Boyfriend and very crusty black top Brazilian Cop proceed to scour North East Brazil in search of girl. Meanwhile the brother of the boyfriend, 'Dreamy' a greengrocer who lives his life through the filter of his Sony headset, plans a burglary. (He is called 'Dreamy' because he dreams of New York and the English language.)
As Cop and boyfriend search, the ugly/wonderful onion-like layers of North East Brazil are explored and peeled away: shanty towns, crazy- if fun, nightlife, even an aborted human sacrifice when, perhaps, THE most singularly beautiful woman in the world (sans makeup?) produces a biblical miracle which spares her life.
In the end, after a futile search - both for the girl and the missing 'soul' of if you will, the nation, girlfriend turns up. And she was missing BE-CAUSE? Because she HAD entered, out of desperation, into a life of coke whoredom. That's right, the discarded "red herring" explanation; such a beautiful, smart young woman could not possibly have come to this end. But she did. Here are the levels at which this wonderful film works:
1. As a singular entity. Mandatory level.' For any work of art must stand alone; even if it succeeds like, oh, Strawberry Fields, succeeds as a metaphor for so many things, first and foremost it must succeed as a piece of music. Thus did this film work as a work of art, sans genre, etc. 2. As a dual detective story. A. The search for the missing girl and B. The search for National Identity or meaning, in Brazil. 3. As an unintended 80s time capsule. Very much of its age - I still insist the 80s were infinitely more appealing and fun, than the 90s or the 21st! 4. As a frequently bizarre character study. Particularly haunting or for me, terrifying, is that in which boyfriend visits the missing girl's parents - who despise one another. The hubby is a genial, total alcoholic, who, like many grand fools, spouts genius and the mother is a dried up sow's teat, a schizophrenic who worships television, thinks it represents 'progress,' and who screams in terror when the boyfriend turns on the lights in her living room. Truly freaky.
With exceptions, most artists produce weaker work in their later years and while Diegues' God is a Brazilian is fascinating; it cannot hold a candle to this film.
** The real drag is that this film is now out of print. Find it. Watch it. That's an order.
acerf, Winter 2006
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