Der Mann, der kopierte

The Man Who Copied tells the story of a young adult attempting to break himself free from the life that society and fate has drawn for him. Andre, the protagonist, is a 19 year old Brazilian, toiling as a "photocopy operator," while pursuing his hobby – comic illustration, and a love he is not sure he can realize. The film is filled with quaint analogies of "art imitating life" and vice versa, and portrays the exterior world and the personalities that inhabit it as illustrated avatars, behind which lurk unexpected and surprising motives, dreams, and desires. It IS very similar to the film "Amelie" in this aspect. The film is a painting depicting the many shades of truth, and shows the absurdity of preconception and expectation. It is bright, uplifting, and full of exciting plot twists that will keep the viewer glued to the screen until the very end (although it starts a bit slowly).

The director uses cinematic technique to portray a fragmented world—that of Andre's existence, (as well as that of contemporary Brazil, as a whole) and attempts to scrutinize the minutiae of daily life in order to distill its essence and produce a vision of WHY we go about mundane and mechanical daily tasks, and how easily one can get caught up in a web of deception and false pretense. The photography is excellent, combining the brightness and color of South America with cutting edge editing and camera technique.

The film is also a subtle social commentary on the state of modern Brazil, illustrating the drastic economic disparity between the wealthy social elite and the pedestrian worker, yet stressing the fact that one can cross over to the other side with greater ease as technology and years advance. "The Man Who Copied" documents a class of people who live a short, but dramatically visible step above those portrayed in "City Of God," and really succeeds in drawing us into the mindset and dreams of the characters. This is a "coming of age" story, not just for its central characters, but for Brazil itself.

If you enjoy this film, I strongly suggest that you check out "City Of God," "Nine Queens," and "Amelie." All of them are foreign films (two from South America) and all share some unique common thread with this film. Highly Recommended!

I will tell you almost nothing about the plot of this film. It's too good to ruin giving away any details. I saw this film in 04 at the SF Intl. Film Festival, and of the 15 or so films I saw, this was by far the gem of gems. It's visually spectacular, clever, funny at times, you don't see it all coming as layers peel away, there's love, tension and it's truly what film making is supposed to be about. (Hollywood, take a memo!)You'd have to be a stone to not enjoy this film, and on so many levels. It is set in an industrial town in Brazil, the characters are every day people, and the lens of the camera takes you on a ride you will remember. The Director has done videos before this, and brought a very contemporary style and language to the film making process. This is not a melo-drama or dark and heavy, but it's exquisite to watch and really what film making, art-making should be about.

See it in a theater, rent it if you can, but see this film!!!

I watched this film enjoying every moment until the last 20 minutes or so. Why did the script and pace twist so much, I really couldn't get it. The sympathetic, lovable characters turned into killers and robbers too fast. And for what purpose? It was a naive, touching script which shifted to a crime text in an absurd way. We witnessed every small detail of the main character's simple life in a very beautiful way for more than 3/4 of the film but everything got an unbelievable and shallow pace suddenly and I was left for wondering why he did this and that without any clue.

I would have recommend it to anyone and regard it as a masterpiece but unfortunately it's only a nice film for me now, after the terrible last quarter.

"O homem que copiava" (The Photocopier Man) is a very nice movie. A creative plot, that proves that money doesn't bring happiness, but helps a lot...Lazaro Ramos is in one of its best performances. No violence, no sex, no further apellation but a great history. Impossible to get out of the theater without a big smile...9/10!

That's a really great movie, very fun, the plot is original and the script unpredictable. I would tell more if my english was better, ok?:) If you don't like foreign movies, don't be scared: it's a enjoyable inteligent movie, it worth the subtitles.