Braza

Just saw it yesterday in the Sao Paulo Intl Film Festival. Just before going I came here to see how it was rated, and at that time it was 7.4, a pretty nice rate...

After 15 minutes I was dying to get out (never did this), but felt embarrassed to do so as the producer of the movie was in the screening.

I did not like at all, the dialogs are shallow and lead nowhere, the characters are shallower than the dialogs, nothing lead anywhere, and the worst and worst: plenty of Siemens and Organics advertising on the movie. Despite the fact that I already paid to go to the movie and entertain myself, I still have to be bombarded by the main character chatting on the internet and Siemens mobile popping-up all the time on her lap-top; or another character having a bath or cutting her hair just to have Organics shampoo displayed enormously on the screen! All of this would be bearable if the plot, characters, romances, anything was good, but was bad, really bad! A "don't know how to do" sex-in-the-city.

Don't waste your time or money.

Not an easy to see documentary about histories that happens on the criminal court of justice of Rio de Janeiro City. The documentary does not have and does not need a narrator. A guy that is caught with drugs in a stolen car, his public attorney, his wife, his pregnant girlfriend, the judge on the case, another drug-dealers with no future caught by policemen and sent to a public prison...the way he comes out...

It is for those who liked Bus 174, Carandiru, prison stories, very sad stories, inequality, poor justice system, etc... For me is a must see to everyone, but be aware that when one come out, one does not look the world in the same way...

8/10

Brazilians for sure are more used to this movie, its plot and its surrounding, it is a movie for people who like movies in general, mainly not Hollywood, blockbusters ones.

There is no one scene with blood, shoots, knives, etc. The violence is everywhere in the movie (like it is in the slums of Brazil), but is never portraited explicitly.

The story is about a teenager, who is doing army school in Rio, when he comes back home (Sao Paulo) to recognize the body of his brother that was killed. He then has to take a long trip to the other part of the city (Sao Paulo has 17 million people!!!) with his brother's friend. Then it starts an interesting flashback of his early teens in that slum (and a very interesting also parallel story, beautifully edited).

If you like artsy movies in general, if you study cinema, and you don't want to go out to a boring bar with boring business friends spending money on beers, stay at home and watch this movie, you will like it (mainly if you understood my cynicism).

enjoy.