Estômago

One of the best movies about food ever made (together with Babette's feast), and also an amazing prision film, Estômago (Stomach) has awesome actors and direction, competebt cinematography, and an absolutely perfect script. Everything works, fits, attracts, entertains, captivates. Characters are solid and unique, situations are remarkable but credible. You may laugh some times, be surprised in other moments, but you never get bored. A true masterwork of Brazilian contemporary cinema.

I saw the movie at the ninth edition of the Rio International Film Festival. Estômago, a Gastronomic Story, wins four awards at Latin America's largest movie showcase. It's about Nonato (João Miguel), who immigrant from the northeast to the south of Brazil and becomes a talented cook. He uses his talent to get a better life and to get the attention of a a voracious and beautiful prostitute Iri (Fabiola Nascimento) The official jury gave "Estomago" a special jury prize as well as awards for best director and best actor (Joao Miguel). The Brazil-Italy co-production also took home the audience award. "Estomago" centers on a talented cook who aims to use his culinary skills to gain power and love.

I enjoyed very much this film. It seems to be a simple story about a man -Raimundo, who comes to the big city and earns his living doing the only thing he knows: cooking. His talent leads him to know the owner of an Italian restaurant, and a prostitute. I like very much the way the film shows the relationship between them: seduction, obedience and competition. the story is easy to follow, amusing and sometimes funny. Anyway, I don't think this is all. Estomago (stomach) provides an interesting and sharp looking to our society: Both in business and in prison, there are rules to follow; power relationships according to abilities, strength, or money. Everyone is a victim in some way, but it is also guilty.

This movie is worth it just for the camera work. There are so many scenes that just grab your emotions by the throat and jerk them around with how strong the image is. The camera captures trivial moments with such detail and delightful symphony that these details become overwhelming to the enchanted viewer.

The story is not really amazing or surprising, but the movie does a great job of making that irrelevant. It's a character movie that allows you to see how food moves a main character in its relations with the world. This main character, albeit simple, never ceases to surprise us with the quirky way he sees the world. Add a little bit of food magic, and you've got this movie wrapped up.

A simple thing, yet a joy to watch.

There are few movies out there that I will take the time to watch a second time, and even fewer movies that make me sincerely chuckle at some scenes. Estomago was one of those movies for me. It's not well known outside the borders of Brazil, but if you're looking for some good Brazilian dark comedies, this one is one of the better ones alongside O Cheiro do Ralo. I won't go into the details of the plot, but suffice it to say, it's a fun watch for those who like revenge fantasies and messed-up characters from the fringes of society who diabolically plot revenge in clever ways. Repeat after me: "Nonato CANIVETE!" One of my favourites of many good bits in this fun-to-watch film.