Eu Tu Eles

On the face of it, the simple plot of the film would not seem enough to sustain the audience's interest. Darlene, an imposing young woman with an illegitimate child, returns to her home in the outback of the Bahia region of Brazil. There she marries an older man, has his child, then takes up with two other men and has children with them as well, all of them living together on the edge of poverty. The powerful acting, a hauntingly beautiful visual style, a landscape both harsh and lovely all make this a cinematic treasure in which one's attention never flags for a moment. It is a film which continues to resonate weeks after seeing it. I look forward to seeing it again and again.

This film provides a new meditation on female attractiveness, beauty, and sexuality. It provides new situations, and new reactions to situations. It provides new meditations on happiness, and on the roads to happiness. There are even little, possibly unintended, meditations on the slavery inherent in the cash economy. I'll watch this film at least a few more times, and get something new out of it every time.

One of the delights of watching foreign films is that distance, like time, provides a filtering effect. Only the very best of the foreign cinema makes its way to our shores. Therefore, it is not surprising that the cinematography, the score, the acting are all first class. But even by that elevated standard this film is special.

While some have commented that Regina Case, the female lead, is ugly, that is not remotely so because of an inner (and very natural) radiance, happiness and joy that Regina projects in a fine performance that warms the heart and lifts the spirits. It, along with spectacular photography, other simple but very "real" performances, and a joyous soundtrack easily lifts the movie to a "10" rating. That such a liberated and brilliant movie should come out of Roman Catholic Brazil is surprising -- a woman who manages to satisfy three husbands with only a little "condemnation" registered by others. The movie also gives us a glimpse into how life somehow happily goes on in an unimaginably harsh environment. It makes for an engrossing and rewarding, yet very understated movie. No Hollywood bells and whistles here, thank goodness. It is real.

First of all, let me say I'm not into movies that depict the suffering of poor people, but this is NOT one of them. It does show the hard life of people living on the edge of Brazil's Northeastern desert, but it is not your regular social protest stuff, and I think it might help these people even better BECAUSE of it.

I'm not against using cinema to protest against social structures, but sometimes the movies can make you see the poor as sub-human. This is not the case here: they have a pretty hard life, indeed, but the director shows us also the beauty of even the arid hinterland where they live. And not only they feel love, like any of us spectators: in this case, they happen to be able to work out a relationship that is unusual for us "urban people" to see, in such a relatively peaceful way.It is a true story, and they can actually teach us that love is everywhere, and in many shapes for us to choose.

Forget the Washington Post Critics. Probably done by someone who lacks many kinds of empathy to truly understands the complexity inside and around the life of a women in most poor areas in Brazil. Regina Case is outstanding in this role. Any women who has faced any difficult situation and suffered due to a patriarchal and unequal society will understand the pace of the film and the subtle behavior of this woman in finding ways to reduce the burden of being a woman and a mother.