Central do Brasil

I thought this movie was terrific, a little slow in parts, but I cared about the characters and was interested in their journey. I also liked the fact that the main character was not portrayed as a saint - Dora is a real person, flaws and all. Montenegro was robbed at the Oscars and so was the movie.

This film is uncommonly powerful, with very dark tones but bursting with hope and love. The main character, a jaded and bitter letter writer working in Brazil's largest train station (Fernanda Montenegro), is suddenly burdened with a kid who eventually wins her over. But unlike the common feel-good comedies with the same setup, Central do Brasil takes the viewer on a sometimes hopeless, openly vulnerable, and powerfully emotional journey. You can really feel the connection between the boy and his new caretaker – you can feel all of her emotions, really, because her acting is just that spectacular. The acting, the camera work, the soundtrack, and the beautifully written story all come together to produce just an amazing movie, well worth watching, that may just jerk a tear from your eye.

Central do Brasil has everything. You come expecting a story of a woman who takes care of a child in a harsh social milieu. You sit in disbelief as this woman shows herself to be a heartless opportunist, and as your expectations are being confounded, you begin to realize how this villainess came to be such a person. The boy she begins to help is also no innocent movie cherub, he has an endearing slyness and a will to survive despite the horrible tragedy he has experienced.

Their road trip is an odyssey from bad to worse, and you begin to sympathize. The characters they meet and the landscape they traverse give us in the north a flavor of Brazil which I cannot confirm as being authentic. But they seem as complex and beautiful and full of contradiction as the Brazilian music that I love. And the final destination for the boy (you're on the edge of your seat hoping things will turn out right) is not a happily-ever-after, but seems to indicate a new direction for the character.

If I sound overly sentimental (I'm sure I do) it's because very few films have moved me like this one. I watched it through three times and cried at the scene of Dora on the bus every time. The use of religious imagery, from the modern evangelicalism of the truck driver to the more unfamiliar scenes with the pictures of the saints (incredible camerawork here) added dimensions of complexity in a medium where Christianity is often treated either in a saccharine fashion or with heavyhanded disdain. See Central Station.

Great movie, warm and bittersweet. It somehow reminded me of

My Life as a Dog (1985) because it more or less deals with the

same issues, but we move from the Swedish North to the sunny

Brazilian South. Beautiful colors, great acting--Josue and Dora

make a wonderful pair and they really foil each other out. Almost

starts dragging a little before the end, but it picks up again. I highly

recommend.

This movie is special.It shows the real Brasil with a simple but beautiful and touching story about a little boy looking for the father he never knew and a woman looking for a second chance. The performers are brilliant! Fernanda Montenegro is extraordinary in the role of Dora.The chemistry between the main characters (Dora and Josué) is splendid. The film photography is wonderful, so as the instrumental soundtrack. Central do Brasil(Central Station) is one of the best movies I have ever seen.

Be ready to weep and be happy!