Terra Estrangeira

FOREIGN LAND / Brazil-Portugal 1995 (4 STARS) 13 December 2003 The best part of this film is how much it surprises. It's a B&W film from Brazil and deflates expectation as it starts out almost like a student film - slow, awkward and seemingly uninteresting, with so much of gritty grain that it is initially annoying. Yet the change of pace and the transition into a gripping tale of innocence, love and adventure is so seamless, that only in the end do we realize what sheer cinematic delight we have been privy to. . Mise-en-scene: Even though it was made in 1995, this film belongs to the highest traditions of 50s Film Noir. Though reminiscent of Welles' Touch of Evil in its narrative style, you've probably never seen a grittier tale, and feel for the characters and their innocence as the plot thickens and the feeling of foreboding grips you. . The fact that the lead pair comprises unknown faces works for the film, and makes it believable. After all, the feeling of alienation and desperation is easier to ascribe to, to a nobody who has no-where to go. . Foreign Land communicates a deep underlying political message to Brazilians who were migrating to Europe in the 1980s and the film does a successful job of portraying life outside of Brazil as mean-spirited and dangerous. . The character development of the boy from struggling artist to bold young man is thoroughly convincing as is the unlikely romance between two desperate people in a strange land. I particularly enjoyed the change in pace of the narrative where it midway meanders off the beaten track and becomes a road-film. . Cinematography: In the final analysis, the low-brow high chiaroscuro grainy photography works for the film and successfully builds a dark mood that establishes the feeling of evil lurking just around the corner in a foreign land. . Sound design is effective in creating a nostalgic mood which begs us to ask the protagonists what on earth they are doing in a foreign land when they could have been safely tucked away in beloved Brazil.

I highly recommend this film to any lover of international cinema and particularly to those who feel inspired by gritty, small-time, content driven films with a powerful vision, that dare to challenge the goliaths of our filmmaking factories.

I wasn't sure about getting this movie on DVD because I really do have something against people making black and white films in the 21st century, but I ended up buying it anyway. I still don't understand why it had to be black and white, but that's the only negativity I can see about the film, and it sure is a perfect example to see the definitive rise of Brazilian cinema. Not everyone can understand a film like this, but it's quite rewarding to those who do. Unlike O Homem Que Copiava, the surrealism fits this movie pretty well, and the acting is at least as good as that one, or other successful Brazilian films such as Bicho de sete cabeças, Cidade De Deus, Brava Gente Brasileira, etc..

My only hope is that this gem doesn't get insulted and raped by a crappy Hollywood remake. It's amazing to see how those guys spend zillions of Dollars and still can't make a movie that's 1% as good as this possibly low-budget flick.

Bravo to the entire crew! 10/10

Sorry Russ Karlberg, but you didn't get anything.

The history and the way it was shoot is intensional, to represent a very bad time in Brazilian history, the years between 1980-1994. Inflation, government holding peoples money in bank, etc. The director Walter Salles said he shooted in black and white to show that bad times.

Maybe only Brazilians full understand the meaning of this movie, maybe the history is indeed complicated to the people that do not lived here in that time.

And for Ien Colby, who asked "Also how did they get through the gate, where were the cops?": man, why do you think they went to that very little town? Just for that, so the frontier isn't very guarded. Go there and see for yourself, it's really like that.

I really enjoyed this movie and recommended it, a fine movie like all Walter Salles movies, specially for Brazilians.

Someone reviewed this movie as a "waste of time" because he/she was expecting the "beautiful scenery of Brazil and Portugal" but then everything looked "washed out" or gloomy, or something to that effect. I believe this person missed the entire part of the film. This is reality. The point of this movie is to show that life is not, indeed, ideal, and to show what people go through in their lives for family, love, and survival. A young man leaves his slum in Sao Paolo, Brazil, to go to Portugal to visit his mother's home country after her death. He discovers that not everything is free, and that Brazilians are looked down upon by native people from Portugal. He eventually finds a life, a love, but the story does not end as expected and this is not a "fairy tale" story. The part that got me most was the ending song, "Zeca Bailero (Honey Baby)" by Gal Costa. It fit so well with the movie; especially the ending.

Fado is a sad almost bluesy style of Portuguese Gypsy music that is heard repeatedly trough the movie. As explained by one of the main characters (Igor) it also means fate.

Indeed it's fate that bring the two main characters Paco and Alex together and triggers the problems that ensue.

On the whole I enjoyed it quite a bit. It starts out as an 'on the down and outs' drama/road movie an builds into a suspenseful thriller / road movie.

There were two things that I found unrealistic that kept me from giving it a higher rating (I gave it an 8). The first is the major point of why did Alex give the stuff away. She was so desperate for cash that she sold her passport for a paltry sum and then she gives away things worth thousands to a stranger? Her explanation was unconvincing. Also how did they get through the gate, where were the cops?