O Coronel e o Lobisomem

Its most obvious that Claudio Carvalho's comments about the movie lacks the basic foundation about the original story in which the movie is based and the perks in speech and writing of the author of that story. José Cândido de Carvalho, a Brazilian writer, was the author of the book that inspired this movie. His most distinguished feature was the way he toys with the Portuguese language in his texts. The movies translates that in a superb manner, showcasing not only a very good script that maintains the distinguished writing of Cândido de Carvalho, but also show us astonishing acting skills of the main actors and actress. This movie is one of those movies that simply can't be translated without loosing much of its substance. Much of its essence come from the way the Portuguese language is used, that's why we have big monologues, and voice overs. Is less an action movie or a drama, and more of a comedy, a very sophisticated comedy I might add. A very good movie celebrating the Portuguese language!

In the beginning of the Twentieth Century, Coronel Ponciano de Azeredo Furtado (Diogo Vilela) inherits the farm Sobradinho in the country, many possessions and the title of "colonel" of his grandfather. His close friend Pernambuco Nogueira (Selton Mello), son of one of the employees of the farm and with whom Ponciano was raised together since they were born, gets nothing in the will. Ponciano has a crush on his cuisine Esmeraldina (Ana Paula Arósio), but he never declares his love to her. When he loses the mortgage of his farm to Nogueira, who got married to Esmeraldina, Ponciano goes to the court trying to prove that Nogueira is a werewolf.

I expected to watch a great film, but "O Coronel e o Lobisomem" is quite disappointing. The story has some good moments, but the archaic and unusual vocabulary in Portuguese is boring and irritating, with long speeches of the character of Diogo Vilela. The character of Ana Paula Arósio is never clear whether she is manipulative, since she married the villain Nogueira and uses her charm to help her husband to raise money with the proud Ponciano, or she really likes Ponciano. The conclusion is extremely silly and illogical. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Coronel e o Lobisomem" ("The Colonel and the Werewolf")

For those who expect to see a superb film, I must tell "O Coronel e o Lobisomem" (The Colonel and the Wereworlf) might not be the right choice. It's far from being some which can attract millions of people to the movie theatres, since it does not have the fun of "O Auto da Compadecida" (A Dog's Will) and "Caramuru - A Invenção do Brasil". The film is not as beautiful as "Lisbela e o Prisioneiro" either, but has some sweetness which many ordinary films (which is NOT the case of the movies cited above) have left out. Adapted from a novel, the film keeps the flavour of the book and uses the magic of cinema. The mix results in a good product which shows how strong Brazilian cinema is at the moment. Although it's another countryside film, filmmakers from Brazil show that they can also work on big cities comedies, actions films, dramas e adaptation of novels. Come to Brazil and check it out.