A Menina do Lado

She's fifteen. He's about thirty years older than her. And they are in love. She knows what she is doing. So does he. The movie does not try to preach, just to show some people are like that. I must say I was happily surprised to see such potentially heavy subject handled as gently as it is. The actress was actually a virgin and fifteen when they filmed it, so her mother was present, and someone had to explain to the girl how to fake a sex scene. It was funny to see her recall the experience at a movie debate on Brazilian TV. And she looks convincing in the movie. I thought she was older, and doing a good job of looking younger, when I saw it. If you seriously believe no one under 18 has any emotional maturity, you're in for a shock.

For better or worse, this is an 80's Brazilian version of "Lolita" that does cast an actual "Lolita" in it. The story (I think--my Portugese is even more questionable than the content of this movie)is about a married journalist who falls for a 15-year-old nymphet living next door with her goofy aunt and uncle. While this is a very common story, the actress involved in these kind of movies is usually a few years older than her character, but I don't believe this particular actress was at the time. Still, this movie is a long way from porno, or even a Brazilian "pornochachada" (a 80's softcore sex genre that I've become a big fan of). It's more of a straight drama--although, for better or worse, it is a little more liberal than a film of its kind would be in the US.

I don't want to drool over the girl in this like some kind of pervert (and I genuinely would have preferred an older actress), but it's just an honest fact that heterosexual males of all ages would feel SOME attraction to a girl like this, even if most wouldn't cross the line as the main character here does. So I think moral indignation would be pretty disingenuous, and this movie is really not deserving of it anyway. More shocking than any of the sexual content actually is the casual teen smoking and an abortion clinic scene. Surprisingly, they actually still show this movie on cable TV in Brazil these days. I watched it and I squirmed a little as an uptight Protestant, but it didn't send me down to the local high school frothing at the mouth either.. .