Saudade - Sehnsucht

It is easy to critic it. But the few points save this low budget film to the status of decent one. Three friends in Brazil. A love story, a murder, few nice scenes and a great potential not explored. Social problems in few drops, not convincing and forced and the summer story so familiar in basic traits. Far to be memorable, it is not just an awful film. For good intentions but , more important, for effort to give a sketch memoring the Greek tragedies aspects of fate. One motives for not be so severe about it , for me, Savonarola chairs and the music.

Three German buddies vacation in Brazil financing their trip by webs-casting naked web-cam shots of themselves on their trip. All three have their own agendas as well.

Rich boy Cyrus is convinced that he can find his Brazilian mother. Musician Tim is convinced he can find his own sound. And romantic Erik is convinced that he can find love. When Erik meets and falls for a Brazilian soap star it looks as though he may be right but when an anonymous tryst on the beach goes wrong and ends in a stabbing things turn sour.

I've seen several of Bruning's films and this is by far my favorite. Perhaps its the sense of longing that permeates all of the characters in the piece and the hope that there may actually be a happy ending here.

'Saudade - Sehnsucht' (THE LONGING) is a film by writer/director Jürgen Brüning who seems to have taken a vacation from Germany to Brazil with some friends and decided to make a movie as a means of entertainment. This film is less about characters and story development than it is about Brazilian beaches, snorkeling, fish butchering, second-rate pop music, and food.

Ostensibly we find three friends who've had a rock band in Germany on vacation in Brazil: Cyrus (Tarik Qazi) is interested in finding his Brazilian mother; Tim (Daniel Bätscher) remains determined to explore a new music sound; Erik (eye candy hunk Hendrik Scheider) wants to find love. The three finance their excursion by making daily film clips of body contact to use on the internet dating business. Their housekeepers Maria (Maria Lucia da Silva Ludwig) and Angela (Marilza da Cruz Pinto Gregião) feed their interests as well as their appetites. Most of their time is spent in clubs and at the beaches, pursuing little but opportunism. Erik has a tryst on the sand with a Brazilian man one night that ends in a death that sours his desire. When another attractive Brazilian lad Miguel (Aldri Anunciação) catches Erik's eye the two begin a struggle for a relationship, but Erik's previous encounter colors his ability to find happiness.

The actors are all attractive and given the fact that they have little to do but look alluring manage to make the film tolerable. But in the end the movie feels too self indulgent to satisfy any audience member. It is a piece of fluff disguised as a soap opera. Grady Harp

No, this is not just a travelogue about pretty boys in Brazil, but how a terrible accident one night on a beach can ruin someone's self respect and irrevocable loss. Yes, there is a lot of popular music in it and yes, there are handsome men, less handsome men and a lot of it set near the sea. It clearly has been filmed on a small budget, but then sadly as they are not taken seriously enough by critics a lot of Gay/Queer films are. I also found the acting to be good, and there is a lot of serious comment in it on the status of black homosexual men ( and women ) in Brazil, and how they are often at the low end of the social order. There is a tremendously powerful scene in a community centre for black homosexuals which certainly opened my eyes to something I knew little about. There is very little sex, some brief nudity, and also a sensuality between the two lovers, one a German, the other a black man who is an actor, relegated because of his colour to minor roles, that I found real and moving. Far more real than most mainstram Gay films which are often less than convincing. It is at its core a love story and the German has committed an accidental crime that his lover cannot forgive. End of spoilers. It is very watchable, and I was not bored for a minute. So why this downer on it ? Is it because it shows that it is on a tight budget, or was the core love story not palatable for some viewers ? Made in 2003 and coming across it in 2021 I found it enlightening, and rewarding to watch, and the subject matter is far from being frivolous. And yes they do lie in the sun for heaven's sake!! It is Brazil filmed with love for its fun in life and portrays well the spirit of the people. I could easily watch it again, and yes the ending is not cut and dried. It is an ending that seemed sadly true to the situation.

This is by far the most uninteresting movie I have ever seen! Poor script, poor and unconvincing acting, poor direction and very poor visual quality.

And that's actually quite a shame, because the story could be interesting if it wasn't told in such a straight forward, no mystery sort of way. Everything is way too obvious, except the ending, which is perhaps the most untied ending I have seen in a very long time!

The upside of the film is that the actors are all beautiful, some of them even amazingly so, and so is the setting; summer in Brazil. Also the music is quite good. At some points it's even the best part of the film! And those are the reasons why I gave it two stars instead of just one!

So in my opinion it was quite a waste of time and money!