Histórias de Amor Duram Apenas 90 Minutos

In Lapa, Rio de Janeiro, the idle aspirant writer Zeca (Caio Blat) has been living with the Arts Professor Júlia (Maria Ribeiro) for five years. His novel has been in stall on page 50 for a long time and Zeca claims lack of inspiration to conclude the plot. He has a comfortable life with the inheritance left by his mother and administrated by his father Humberto (Daniel Dantas) that criticizes him, since Zeca is almost thirty years old and has not come of age. When Zeca sees Júlia alone with her best friend Carol (Luz Cipriota) in his flat, he believes that they have a love affair and he becomes obsessed for Carol, following her on the streets. When Júlia travels to São Paulo for a Congress, Zeca has an affair with Carol. Then, while Júlia works and studies for her doctorate, Zeca has sex with Carol during the days and with Júlia in the nights. Zeca plots a scheme to stay with either Carol or Júlia but his plan does not work well.

"Histórias de Amor Duram Apenas 90 Minutos" is a delightfully witty and sexy romantic comedy, steamy and erotic but never vulgar. The cinematography uses the style of film-noir and the screenplay is pleasant and charming. The Argentinean Luz Cipriota is really a pretty and sexy woman and Maria Ribeiro is also very beautiful and hot. Caio Blat is an excellent actor but either Luz Cipriota or Maria Ribeiro is absolutely out of his league. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Histórias de Amor Duram Apenas 90 Minutos" ("Love Stories Last Only 90 Minutes")

Interesting film, mostly fitting drama genre, but with funny (tragicomedy) moments and with many very well done sex scenes (I must highlight that both Maria Ribeiro and Luz Cipriota are very sexy here). Caio Blat's character, Zeca, who is also the narrator, is irresponsible, immature, depressing, untrustworthy, and inertially conservative. He supposedly could have been a good writer but he may only mourn about his life, as his unhappy father (played by Daniel Dantas, a character who wanted to be a writer himself but, by having not enough skill, wanted his son to do that) always remarks. Zeca had an intelligent, beautiful and loving wife/girlfriend, Júlia, who he probably felt (correctly) that he did not deserve. Then (perhaps as a strategy to feel free from regret), he starts to believe that she (a Ph. D candidate and teacher) has an Argentine student of hers and dancer, Carol, as a mistress (although the clues he follows are indeed quite inconclusive despite his belief). His jealousy is turned into sexually obsession about the latter. Eventually it becomes a love triangle, and the guy tries to solve his self-made puzzle in the way we could expect from a coward like him. After writing his own tragedy that he tried so hard to build, perhaps he would have something to make a novel about. Besides the smart edition and the erotic scenes, the most interesting element in the movie is the way Zeca's thoughts (from masturbation muse to filling in the blanks in the situations he does not see) are interwined with reality, as daydreaming. By the way, I would like to mention that I have seen that street musician several times in Rio de Janeiro downtown.