`Felicidade É.'(`Happiness Is.') is a Brazilian movie composed of four short stories as follows: 1) `Sonho' (`Dream') is a comedy about a writer (Cassiano Ricardo), who lost inspiration for writing a second successful book. His first one was a great best-seller. Because of this situation, his pragmatic wife and him are passing through a marriage crisis. One day, his wife (the great Brazilian actress and comedian Denise Fraga) has a weird dream and starts talking in the middle of the night. The writer wakes up and for successive nights, he uses these dreams as a source for writing again. This funny tale has a surprisingly last scene. My vote is eight. 2) `Bolo' (`Cake') is an acid and dramatic dialog between an old couple (Jofre Soares and Vanda Lacerda) while preparing some cookies in the kitchen. It reflects those minors malevolencies that happens when an old couple share most of their lives together. This theatrical story is very boring. It seems to be an adaptation from the stage, and indeed it does not work well on the screen. My vote is four. 3) `Cruz' (`Cross') is again a dramatic dialog between Pedro (Paulo Autran) and an old passion of his live. In this dialog, cruel revelations about an accident with Pedro will emerge, full of regrets. Again, it seems to be another adaptation from the stage, and it does not work well on the screen. My vote is four. 4) `Estrada' (`Road') is about the preparation for a weekend of Luiz (Pedro Cardoso) and Maria (Deborah Bloch) together with another couple, friends of them. In the same time, a truck driver is ordered to carry a fully loaded truck with problem in its brake. The interception of both in the road will lead to a surprisingly end. My vote is eight. This movie won the Brazilian Festival of Gramado in 1995, and the Popular Jury Award in some Brazilian Cinema Festival (Gramado, Brasília and Cuiabá). In my opinion, there are two good episodes (`Sonho' and `Estrada'). The other two (`Bolo' and `Cruz') might work well on a theater stage since they are very verbal and performed by excellent actors originated from the theater. However, for a movie, these two stories become boring. My global and final vote is six.
