La vie peu ordinaire de Dona Linhares

On the face of it, the simple plot of the film would not seem enough to sustain the audience's interest. Darlene, an imposing young woman with an illegitimate child, returns to her home in the outback of the Bahia region of Brazil. There she marries an older man, has his child, then takes up with two other men and has children with them as well, all of them living together on the edge of poverty. The powerful acting, a hauntingly beautiful visual style, a landscape both harsh and lovely all make this a cinematic treasure in which one's attention never flags for a moment. It is a film which continues to resonate weeks after seeing it. I look forward to seeing it again and again.

Forget the Washington Post Critics. Probably done by someone who lacks many kinds of empathy to truly understands the complexity inside and around the life of a women in most poor areas in Brazil. Regina Case is outstanding in this role. Any women who has faced any difficult situation and suffered due to a patriarchal and unequal society will understand the pace of the film and the subtle behavior of this woman in finding ways to reduce the burden of being a woman and a mother.

A superb film from Brazil. There are movies about love triangles. This is more of a hexagon. Some of the professional critics seem to read more into the story than there is. Basicly, Darlene is an aging manipulative bitch with a great body. She has an earthiness about her that arouses the man in any man. The acting of the principals is brilliant. You don't have to understand Portugese (or read the subtitles)to understand the deep and conflicting emotions. Some regard the film as a comedy. Not at all (although it has its moments of humour.) It's a tremendously well done film about a lady who likes a roll in the hay (or, in this case, sugar bush.) My only complaint is the rather slushy ending. The icing on this spicy cake is the magnificent cinematography...great sweeping vistas and big skies...intriguing camera angles...imaginative framing...carefully painted light. If you like foreign films, this is a must!

First of all, let me say I'm not into movies that depict the suffering of poor people, but this is NOT one of them. It does show the hard life of people living on the edge of Brazil's Northeastern desert, but it is not your regular social protest stuff, and I think it might help these people even better BECAUSE of it.

I'm not against using cinema to protest against social structures, but sometimes the movies can make you see the poor as sub-human. This is not the case here: they have a pretty hard life, indeed, but the director shows us also the beauty of even the arid hinterland where they live. And not only they feel love, like any of us spectators: in this case, they happen to be able to work out a relationship that is unusual for us "urban people" to see, in such a relatively peaceful way.It is a true story, and they can actually teach us that love is everywhere, and in many shapes for us to choose.

"Eu Tu Eles" tells the story of Regina Case. A headstrong peasant woman in dusty rural Brasil who needs the support of 3 men to fulfill the traditional role of a husband. Each of the men help her attain different areas of fulfillment - a economic provider, a soulmate, and a lustful sexual partner.

Its a simple story and you do feel that the movie drags on much more than necessary as it shows how people are mutually dependant. The soundtrack of the movie is excellent, and I think what makes it work is the background - the pallete of the story set in rural Brasil. Directory Andrucha Waddington and cinematographer Brendo Silveira used prominent reds, browns, and ochres, fading into deep shadows to give a dusky, lusty beauty to the landscape. Its a very raw beauty - the clouds, the trees are prominent, and stagnant which go on to enhance the location of the story and the lives of its main protagonists.