São Paulo, Sociedade Anônima

"São Paulo, Sociedade Anõnima" portrays a man in the middle of industrialization, searching your goal and at the same time trying to find himself throughout this process of change and degeneration. Of course one of the better movies made in brazil.

This is a film about a boorish and colorless man, his memoir of how life failed him. It starts with the end, a breakup that he walks away from, the bulk of the film is for us to see what kind of life is broken up, what dissolves, what is carried on.

It is from that time after Antonioni had taken Europe by storm, it uses all the visual arsenal. The camera is vibrant, it captures motion, change, perspective, dilation - a lovely scene takes place during New Years, the night erupts in bright lights as confetti rains from above. It misses the fundamental essence of Antonioni however, that narrative place is so parted to reveal currents of soul.

Along the way we have precious insights into Brazilian life of course. I've been lately on cinematic vacation in Brazil, watching films from there. Most take place in fanciful Rio, this is an exception; industrial Sao Paolo with no oceanfront to send the eye off in relief. It gives a sense of place, time, people, you should see it just to parse these.

But what kind of insight do we have into that life? It's compromised of course, there as well as any other place, unjust, occasionally just petty. But why should it be drab?

It is drab for the protagonist who colors everything through his own self, a thankless man always dissatisfied and tossed about by desires. He's not without conscience, which prevents him from not minding the compromise, but he's not mindful either, not settled in his view.

It ends in a poignant way that reveals the emptiness of this man. Disgusted, he abandons everything including son and wife and runs off, but life takes that turn of dumb chance that brings you back to what you wanted to avoid. What was he trying to run from? It's all inside him, carried wherever he goes. Did he ever once cultivate his intentions, his mindfulness for his own self or the women he bedded? Was he ever grateful for anything, appreciative?

It's a well made film but the same limitation applies for me as in similar ones; I don't see the modern tragedy, only the waste.

His influence on this movie is very clear.

It's not as good as any of the Fellini movies I've seen (to be fair, I've only seen like three), but it's still pretty good.

I love the opening credits sequence.

The first and last ten minutes are probably the best parts of the movie.

In São Paulo, Carlos (Walmor Chagas) leaves his wife Luciana (Eva Wilma) and his son seeking a new beginning of his life. While wandering through the streets of São Paulo, Carlos recalls the period between 1957 and 1961, when he was a twenty-five year-old employee of Volkswagen in the boom of the automobile industry in Brazil working in the Quality Control of the factory. He meets the supplier Arturo (Otelo Zeloni), the Italian immigrant owner of an auto parts, and he accepts his gears even with defects, receiving a commission in return. Meanwhile the easy Ana (Darlene Glória) becomes his mistress, and later he has an affair with the romantic nihilist intellectual Hilda (Ana Esmeralda). When he meets bourgeois Ana in the English class, they date and later she becomes his fiancée and wife. Along the years, the rude Carlos loses his job in Volkswagen and becomes manager of Arturo's factory; he has an existential crisis, losing his identity and becoming part of the gear of the process of industrialization of São Paulo.

"São Paulo Sociedade Anônima" is an interesting sociological study of the process of industrialization of a Third World country. The screenplay discloses in a non-chronological the professional and romantic life of the lead character Carlos, who sees along the process, hypocrisy, corruption, ambition, exploration and futility through his loves and his boss and has a breakdown, trying to erase his existence and having a refreshing start. But in the end, he finds stranded in São Paulo, without means to make his dream come true. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "São Paulo Sociedade Anônima" ("São Paulo Anonymous Society")

A photography of this film is wonderful, we see a good work of the DP, and the edition of the film is very peculiar we need to see like two times to understand but is a good film i recommend this Brazilian film. The takes of the silhouette is very intense and we feel the feeling of the character.