World Cinema Report May 2008: Brazil

Brazil at Home:

The story of a north-eastern man named Raimundo Nonato (actor João Miguel, from “Movies, Aspirin and Vultures” and “Mutum”) who tries a better life moving to the south of Brazil is touching a cord among local audiences. Arriving with almost nothing, the protagonsit starts to work at a small pub, where, even been explored by his boss, his gastronomic skills emerge. Increasing the number of costumers of the place, he immediately notices the power that his talent could provide to his life. Soon, he would change his workplace to a better one. In parallel, Raimundo is seen in a cell that he shares with numerous prisoners. Not knowing exactly what the protagonist had done to be there, the public is driven through a man’s journey to achieve better ways of life in these two situations: free, while he grows as a cook and in jail, while he uses his talents to gain power and leadership among the prisoners. (Head on over to the trailer here).

ESTÔMAGO – A Gastronomic Story is directed by newcomer Marcos Jorge whose film might be the latest hit for the Brazilian industry having already been sold to 11 countries and received the award of best Latin-American movie at the Cinematographic Festival of Uruguay.

Jorge gains his public’s attention with a story that involves drama, comedy and mystery and good characters and acting. When asked of influence of other movies about culinary, he humbly cites from Peter Greenaway’s “The Cook, the Thief, his Wife & her Lover” to Pixar’s “Ratatouille”. All of this added by a Brazilian condiment makes “Estomago” a not-to-miss voyage. 

Brazil Abroad:

At Cannes…

There are more films besides the Fernando Meirelles’ film festival opener Blindness.  Also showcasing Brazilian talent is Linha de
Passe, the newest incursion of one of the most important nouns of the Brazilian cinema, Walter Salles, has been selected to be part of the competitive segment of the 61st Cannes Movie Festival. The Golden Palm also includes the newest works of cinematographers of first scale, such as Wim Wenders, Steven Soderbergh and Clint Eastwood.

Co-directed and co-written by Daniela Thomas and shot in Sao Paulo, the film tells the story of five members of a humble family, a pregnant mother and her four kids and their dreams and hopes. It marks a new collaboration of Salles and Vinicius de Oliveira (who played the protagonist of Salles’s “Central Station” and now plays Dario, a young man who dreams to be a professional soccer player).

According to Salles, the movie was born after he shot big productions like “Dark Water” and “The Motorcycle Diaries” and desired to produce “something small, with close friends, like Thomas and Oliveira”.

Still in Cannes…

Besides “Linha de Passe”, Brazil is also been represented in the festival by A Festa Da Menina
Morta (“The Dead Girl’s Feast”), the first movie directed by the widely awarded actor Matheus Nachtergaele (one of figures that best represent the Brazilian cinema’s re-birth). The story is about a remote community located in the border of the river Amazonas that put in practice once a year “The Dead Girl’s Feast”, an event whose propose is to celebrate the miracle performed by Santinho (Daniel de Oliveira), who received by a dog’s mouth the piece of a lost girl’s clothing in the same day of his mother’s suicide. Every year, people visit the temple to pray, ask or wait for revelations of the girl (said through Santinho at some point). The main question explored here is the limit between imagination, faith and relief as solve to existential doubts.

The film is of part of the non-competitive “Un Certain Regard” section of Cannes.

Also…

The Chilean-Brazilian co-production Tony Manero is also going to be screened at Cannes, in the Directors’ Fortnight section. The film, a story directed by Pablo Larrain about a serial-killer obsessed by John Travolta’s character in “Saturday Night Fever”, will be shown April the 17th.