Amor Estranho Amor

What could be more beautiful than a young boy's discovery of adult love from those who knew it best. Seeing it from an old man's eyes looking back on his childhood. Experiencing it from the childs awe and discovery of a world where beauty and sex were valued in a special way. Then, to have his mother, who loved him so very much, take him the final step into manhood.

While some may cringe at the subject matter, I believe it was treated with sensitivity and respect. Would only that my initiation into adulthood was with such love. I am thankful I have been able to pass on the wonder and amazement of discovering Love, Strange Love to some. Being the first love of another is a special gift.

I understand that this movie was made in a time where life was not running at a pace as fast as it is now; but even with this in mind it is just boring.

especially the director's obsession with blue eyes staring out of frozen faces in closeup is getting pretty annoying after some time. cut out all these "blue eyes staring" scenes and the length would probably get down to about 1.5 hours (instead of the actual 2 hours), making it more bearable.

also most of the dialogs are just unsatisfying and simple.

not being from brasil I don't get the point about xuxa, but her beauty and nakedness (together vera fischer and with all the other nude girls) at least accounts for a few points in my rating.

This Brazilian movie somewhat resembles the soapy, exploitative Brazilian "pornochachada" films of its era, but is a much more serious and arty (and pretentious) period film. The fairly serious plot is certainly not helped by the atrocious English dubbing of the existing VHS version, but the bigger problem is that the whole movie is even more laughably implausible than even the wildest, most out-there "pornochadas" I've seen.

The film is told in flashback as a fifty-something man remembers a brief period during WWII where he came to visit an upscale brothel managed by his mother. As political intrigue swirls both inside and outside the brothel, the twelve-year-old protagonist is seduced by no less than three of the prostitutes. The serious historical intrigue notwithstanding, it's very hard to buy (even in Brazil)that adult women working daily in the sex trade could not resist bedding a boy whose testicles probably haven't dropped yet. Obviously, the sex scenes between the nude adult women and the partially nude adolescent boy were (and still would be) considered controversial, but I think this movie is much less guilty of exploiting the adolescent male body than it is of exploiting the adolescent male fantasies that most adult males still vividly recall. (Besides if you're really looking at the twelve-year-old actor in the presence of all these voluptuous Brazilian women, I think it says a lot more about you than it does the movie).

As other reviews have mentioned, one of the prostitutes here is played Xuxa Menghel who went on to become a pretty big celebrity singer (and kiddie TV host!) in Brazil. She may indeed be the reason this rattling skeleton in her closet does not seemingly exist in any version with its native language. Still, she is undeniably sexy whether stripping out of a ridiculous bear costume or rubbing her naked self against the barely pubescent protagonist. She and some of the other women (including "pornochchada" regular Vanessa Alves)are really the only thing this overly serious, and at the same time, laughably ridiculous movie really has going for it.

This is a very rare movie, but quite a gem so if you can get your hands on a copy, don't let it go. If you were a young boy who had a confusing sexual education and early experiences, you will understand it well and be in touch with the story. The movie is boring much of the time, but occasional touching fantasy scenes keep you interested. And it is an absolute must for Xuxa fans, one of only a few of her English language performances. She plays a brothel prostitute hired for a party to entertain a wealthy diplomat. She also seduces a 13 (I assume) year old boy who is visiting his mother at the brothel. The other women there also take their shot at enticing him, mostly by flashing their nakedness. However, he shows no interest in them.

Being an old Brazilian movie, I didn't expect much. But even with all the prejudice, it still wasn't the worst I've ever seen. Xuxa draws attention to the unsuspecting viewer.