Eu Tu Eles

This film portrays the life of the Brazilian poor in the arid interior, and that life is hard. You take your pleasures where and when you can. Regina Case gives a vivid performance as the polyamorous wife-lover; she is no more "ugly" than Frances McDormand, Maggie Smith or a host of other actresses who don't do Vogue covers. Gilberto Gil's music is very evocative, it's like an actor in the story.

Finally, I want to praise Lima Duarte's performance as the husband; he knows life is passing him by and death is approaching, so he doesn't let Darlene's sexual habits bother him. It is a very expressive star turn in the Philippe Noiret tradition.

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.

"Eu Tu Eles" tells the story of Regina Case. A headstrong peasant woman in dusty rural Brasil who needs the support of 3 men to fulfill the traditional role of a husband. Each of the men help her attain different areas of fulfillment - a economic provider, a soulmate, and a lustful sexual partner.

Its a simple story and you do feel that the movie drags on much more than necessary as it shows how people are mutually dependant. The soundtrack of the movie is excellent, and I think what makes it work is the background - the pallete of the story set in rural Brasil. Directory Andrucha Waddington and cinematographer Brendo Silveira used prominent reds, browns, and ochres, fading into deep shadows to give a dusky, lusty beauty to the landscape. Its a very raw beauty - the clouds, the trees are prominent, and stagnant which go on to enhance the location of the story and the lives of its main protagonists.

Wonderful film. There really is much to love about this film, but the it's strength begins with the realistic, multidimensional performances by Regina Case, Lima Duarte and Stenio Garcia. For every spoken word, their body language and expressions convey countless unspokes desires, emotions, and conflicts. The script is well grounded with very little in the way of broad farcical humor or weepy melodrama. By pushing realism in the dialogue, direction and performances, the characters are rendered with more complexity. More humanity. They aren't reduced to being the romanticized 'noble poor' ciphers present in many films about poor people. Here, there are no saints or devils, only achingly real people doing their best to strike an agreeable accord with life. Even the cinematography serves this goal. This film is packed with beautiful imagery, but at the same time, it never devolves into being a travelogue. Instead the arrid terrain, populated with knarled cashew trees and swept with dust provides an understanding of how the characters find themselves amidst such an arrangement. Some have said this film is a disservice to women, because Darlene has to use sex to gain what she wants and needs. This I think is a pathetic attempt to further an agenda without even really considering the merit of the film itself. Darlene is a woman without many options. In order to fashion a semblance of a happy life, she uses guile, intelligence, charm and strategy to manipulate her fate. Sex just happens to be a tool at her disposal, and in Ciro, she finds a lover who even provides for her sexual needs. She sounds like a strong, self-realized woman to me. Were her character born middle class, I have no doubt she'd go far. Understanding this bit of social commentary only adds to my respect for this film because like other elements present, it's never heavy handed. Overall, I give 'Me You Them' 9 of 10. Of the films I saw in 2001, it ranks only after 'the Circle' as my favorite. Touching, funny, sublimely well balanced and intelligent, I'm hoping Andrucha Waddington makes more films of this caliber..............

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.