I was planning to stop writing reviews, but this, this was a film I had to make people aware of. An inspiring and superbly directed & scripted film.
It’s been a while since a movie moved me to tears. This was pretty close, but not because it was sad, but because everything about this movie was just amazing. It moved me with it’s superbly crafted package. I hate feel good movies, I hate happy endings, but you have to have a heart of stone not to enjoy this delicate tale. The movie is two hours long, it’s set in Brazil, has subtitles, and after watching City of God, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
André is a good looking guy who photocopies, he doesn’t get much money, and he’s bored. He knows the ins and outs of photocopying, in fact, he will also teach you in five minutes during the film. He isn’t much of a hit with girls, as he says in the film “there are not many girls that want to marry a guy who photocopies”.
The majority of the film is narrated by André, his expectations from life, his ambitions, his opinion and thoughts of people. This is interjected with moments of animation, done in the style which André draws. As a hobby, he is an illustrator, as a career he wishes to aspire as an illustrator. He sends off copies of his art work which no one seems to be interested in. He doesn’t even receive as much a “Sorry we’re not interested”. It’s almost like being read a book with beautifully directed camera work.
Wonderfully scripted, superbly acted and an almost perfect movie for its genre
Having been kicked out of school after telling his friend that his father had been away for 7 years, and then responding by blinding the friend in the eye for laughing at this statement, André’s love for school wavered. He worked as a grocery packer, but found people annoying. And so right he was. Having found the job as a photocopier, it provided him moments of reading time – most of his reading was done from what he was photocopying – history, art, poetry – snippets of literature embedded in his mind, incomplete but preserved. In particular a sonnet by Shakespeare.
Across the block of flats that André lives in, is the person he loves from a far. He doesn’t know her, except by her name, Silvia. They haven’t really met, or talked, or noticed each other. André doesn’t have a lot of money, as mentioned, and thus is always in the difficult position of paying the rent for where they live, paying the bills and paying for items bought on hire purchase. His typical allowance is about $68 a month. He spends it on superficial things, but superficial things that give him a moment of pleasure. But he’s bored, and eager to make money. He also wants to be closer to Silvia.
His two objectives are decided: make money and be with Silvia. So we follow André’s journey, his planning and his ideas on how to achieve both. Marinês is a beauty that André sometimes thinks about while photocopying. She happens to work in the same shop, and is equally bored and tired. She wants to marry a rich guy, she has many aspirations about being taken away to a land of luxury and untold riches.
Through Marinês, André meets Cardoso, a guy who thinks he can lay Marinês. Having been given a couple of free tickets to a bar that André knows the owner of, Marinês brings Cardoso a long to teach him a lesson (that she isn’t easy to fuck, and that she is in fact a virgin and has done everything but intercourse) and also to tell him bluntly that he is as poor as she is, that the tie and suit that he wore, the bullshit that he comes out with is not a turn on. In fact, there is nothing about Cardoso that would turn her on. Particularly his smoking. During the night, André and Cardoso strike up an unlikely friendship and Marinês is smarter than she seems.
The character’s are wonderful, and engaging, even the ones you hate (and rightly so) for doing all the wrong things
André is still after Silvia and plans a rouse in order to capture her. He decides to follow her one day, to her place of work (a women’s clothes shop), and goes into the shop where she works. After toing and froing, she approaches him; he in his shy and retired manner requires an excuse and decides on the “I’m shopping for my mother” technique. Silvia suggests a robe that would suit his mother, at $38 it isn’t cheap, and so André falls flat on this premise of being able to strike up conversation and offers to come back later. He needs $38, which he doesn’t have and puts himself under pressure to win her heart by being true to his word and returning to buy the robe. So another adventure begins with Andre: mission: obtain $38….
Silvia herself is smart, adorable and innocent. A child at heart, living in a squalid misery with only a shadow of what can be called a father in a perverse, and sick man known as Antunes. He spies on her when she showers, he steals money from her, and probably abused her as a child, always referring to her as not his daughter, and putting her down in front of André when they meet. He is a bitter man.
The character’s are wonderful, and engaging, even the ones you hate (and rightly so) for doing all the wrong things, you feel something towards the character – empathy, disgust, whatever it may be. Whether or not these people have acted before is not known to me; what is known is that in this film their performance was impeccable and wonderfully played.
In terms of plot, there are several, what starts off as one person’s ambition to become rich by making money fast, turns into a delicate and beautifully handled tale of a first love, and innocent love. Later on, by some smart twist in the story, we end up with a major fraud, a heist, a shooting, a murder (involving a chicken) and finally a happy ending. The ending to me, was as much a surprise as anything, Silvia’s secret is really sweet, and it just goes to show, women are just too damn smart!
An inspiring and superbly directed & scripted film
That’s about as far as I will go into discussing the movie, as there are many, many surprises within it which both (to some degree) disgust, and also warm the heart. The camera work, the locations, the desolate streets and scrappy life led by our apathetic bunch is amusing and inspiring. Through all their struggles, they still dream, they still aspire to something greater, knowing full well, there is no quick fix, no quick solution to their miseries.
I had no clue what this movie was about, nor had I any inclination of what it would be like. This is such a great film, it puts hundreds that are out there to shame. Laborious and pretentious pieces of rubbish such as LOTR or Matrix trilogy are just mere shadows in the brightness of the beauty that shines from this film. Wonderfully scripted, superbly acted and an almost perfect movie for its genre. There is nothing about this movie that I can fault (expect perhaps the dancing and the music played in the club – 80s cheese anyone?), and I am anxiously searching for the Soundtrack as there are several great tracks run through the movie that I would like to listen to.
Verdict: Astonishing, breathtaking, beautiful there are not enough words to describe this film – it will put a smile on your face, and warmth in your heart