Cidade Baixa

In the Northeastern of Brazil, the twenty years old hooker Karinna (Alice Braga) negotiates a travel to Salvador, Bahia, in the boat of the friends Deco (Lázaro Ramos) and Naldinho (Wagner Moura), having sex with them and getting some money in return. Deco first, and Naldinho later, fall in love for Karinna, who likes both of them, forming a triangle of love and jeopardizing the friendship of Deco and Naldinho.

"Cidade Baixa" is a real and cruel triangle of love, having the landscape of the red light district in the lower zone of Salvador and the environment of hopeless people that lives in the limit of the marginality of the society, prostituting, robbing, and fighting for surviving. The plot is actually unpredictable, with many possibilities and an open end, having the excellent actor Lázaro Ramos in the lead role, with the also good actor Wagner Moura. But the great surprise is the unknown actress Alice Braga, niece of Sonia Braga, performing a very erotic and hot character and dignifying the name of her aunt. This low budget movie exhales sexual tension and eroticism, and is very pleasant and recommended, showing a deglamorized side of Brazil unknown even for many Brazilians. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Cidade Baixa" ("Lower City")

This is a gutsy and challenging film in the vein of City of God. It has a similar energy with frenetic camera work and it's depiction of people at the lower end of the food chain. It is set on location in various seaside cities and towns in the northeast of Brazil, showcasing beautiful vistas (though rarely in postcard fashion) and urban decay that I found very photogenic. It wasn't as dark or frenzied as City of God.

Producer Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries, Central Station), director Sérgio Machado and writer Karim Ainouz are regular collaborators. Machado wrote for Ainouz's Madame Sata (2002), which had a limited release in Australia last year and both Machado and Ainouz wrote for Salles' Behind The Sun (1998). The style and subject of Lower City had much in common with Madame Sata, though the latter was based on a true character (a bandit-turned-transvestite performer) earlier last century.

Right from the start, sex is a confronting element of the film, as we follow the exploits of a young woman, Karinna (Alice Braga) who is readily prepared to sell herself in order to hitch a ride with a pair of men, Deco (Lázaro Ramos) and Naldinho (Wagner Moura) on their boat to Salvador.

We get glimpses into the shady past of the men. One is attempting to reform while the other appears to be sinking into bad habits. This is not their only conflict. While they profess their brotherly love for each other, jealously grows over each man's sexual interest in Karinna.

Deco and Naldinho are of different races. An early scene of a cock fight between a black and a white bird seems prophetic. The deterioration of brotherly love was a major focus of the story, and it was well detailed with subtlety – much of it by glaring looks rather than the spoken word. The actors' performances were all passionate, credible and their characters well-developed and interesting. The film's depiction of the darker side of a society was a fresh change to the homogenous, polished middle-class of Hollywood.

The film seemed to struggle slightly at times with continuity but remained emotionally gripping throughout. The exotic music – both traditional and contemporary – was used to good effect and greatly enhanced the cinematic experience. There was a satisfying level of ambiguity in the film, both in motives and the finale. We are not handed everything on a plate for immediate consumption, so we can come out of the cinema ruminating about the experience.

Eroticism is a significant but incidental element in the film, used as a vehicle for revealing aspects of the characters, and how destructive it can be to a relationship. While love triangles are not a new subject, its depiction in Lower City was achieved with depth, originality, gritty realism and emotional honesty. This aspect was a little reminiscent of the scenario in Y Tu Mama Tambien, but in a much seedier way.

Lower City, despite its depictions of sex and violence, is at heart both gentle and non-judgmental. For me, it didn't reach the greatness of City of God (to which it is being compared), though it really is a very different film. Serious film-goers will appreciate it for its sensual and raw eroticism, ambiguity, grittiness and emotional depth. It is well worth seeing.

Cidade Baixa is more of an accomplished film than you might think. The locations and the camera-work are well presented, The acting is very realistic and the main actress is beautiful as well as talented. It may not be City of God or even Central Station but this film is well paced and full of energy. The Cane and Abel style relationship between the two male leads becomes integral to the film's message: should you let a woman get in the way of a friendship. Well quite frankly you shouldn't as love and lust can be destructive as well as invigorating - how this manifests itself in the film is something I won't go into so as not to spoil it for you. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the film and I would recommend anybody to watch it.

Three complex and damaged characters on a journey together in a sexually intense film which makes LOWER CITY such an interesting story to watch unfold. The location of Salvador De Bahia's lower city and the interior and exterior shots add a background which is perfect for the love story to take place and you can feel the heat jump off the screen.

The three actors are tremendous in their roles-Lazaro Ramos, Wagner Moura and the gorgeous, breathtaking young actress, Alice Braga. Their sex scenes add to the development of their characters and of course set the film on its course. Alice Braga is a young "Sharon Stone" in the making and her sexuality, intelligence and sense of herself, what is right for her, make each scene she is in an electrifying demonstration of beauty and talent. Braga should go far.

The final scene was a bit of a let down, but then, what else really could have happened to the three caught in a triangle in the slums and heat of LOWER CITY. One hopes for a sequel of this intense story.

This is a mesmeric movie about the corrosive effect of an attractive and sensual woman's intrusion on the close, almost intimate, relationship between two men. Set in the seamy underworld of the Brazilian port of Salvador de Bahia, the film takes its name from the lower (baixa) quarter of that city. One of the few "touristy" shots in the movie is of the lift connecting the Cidade Baixa with the Cidade Alta, a treasure house of colonial architecture, of which we catch but one brief glimpse in the film.

To my mind the film is as notable for what it doesn't state explicitly, as for what it does. Neither of the two male protagonists refers to the fact that they are of different colours; but it is hard to avoid the thought that this plays a part in the rift which develops between them, and is foreshadowed by the savage cockfight between a black and a white bird in an early scene.

The film is uncompromising - and entirely non-judgemental - in its depiction both of the criminal activities of its men, and of the prostitution of the women. We may not approve of what we are seeing, but "this is how it is" the film tells us. The acting is of the highest standard, with Alice Braga (niece of Sonia) outstandingly sexy; and the fast-paced and close-up camera work glues the viewer to the screen.

See it!