Anjos do Sol

It's supposed to bring not a milligram of pleasure, be it directing or, especially, acting. Who cares? That's not a piece of art. That's a desperate yell that fades into a hopeless howling. This movie alone is enough not to want to wake up next morning. Watching can easily lead to a heart attack. I nearly had one. But filmed impeccably by a guy with a very big heart. Great photography, great sertaneja score intended to contrast, great cast including Otavio Augusto, Chico Diaz, Vera Holtz and Antonio Calloni among others. Virtually a documentary with a very slight acting, which may be just a bit too much. But the most shocking is that the movie leaves you breathlessly ashamed for being part of this world.

I saw many films in that week and I was tired, but this film was like a slap in the face then I woke up, it was so strong. It's not a documentary, but an unhappier reminder of world that exists. Great photography and painful images. I consider it one of the best Brazilian movies.

The whole cast is a long series of cardboard silhouettes marching around in a silly dance. A TV report about child prostitution has about the same emotional and artistic value for only a fraction of the price. So why do it? Because the they can. Anyway, everything is cleaned up to sterility. The miners are poor. They have unfashionable clothing. Yet the clothes are clean and new. The brothel is hospital clean and there are no sanitation issues. There is no blood, no vomit, even the chain is new and shinny.

Why do they do it? Any of the characters moving around? Who cares? The team has a movie to shoot and big dreams. In the end, the screen announces this is made from true stories. Really? If that's so why is there only one story? And if that is one story, where is the evolution, the reason to feel something for the girl? In the end, after 90 minutes, the girl is just another piece of meat. Does she change? Does she have dreams? Long into the movie she starts speaking. She is trying to become human: she talks about pain. But she is cut short by the director's need to keep up filming.

I should have felt sorry for the girl. Yet the only conclusion rests: she was better off dead. And this movie unmade.

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I'm not much of an expert on acting or other movie details, but this movie just hit me deep. I don't think I'll ever forget it. One scene especially (I think that anybody who has seen the film will know of which one I am speaking) is imprinted on my brain.

I also watched the similar movie Lilja 4-ever (as referred to by a previous commentator). It was also very moving, but not quite as straight to the point and brutal. If you are sensitive at all, either will bring tears to your eyes, but Anjos Do Sol (Angels of the Sun) may stay with you forever.

This is very depressing subject matter, but I think, no, I HOPE that the film succeeds in bringing more attention to it.

More people need to see this film!!!!!!

Sold by her father, Maria is bought as a gift to deflower a son. Afterwards, her new owner sends her to his brothel in the Brazilian jungle.

The film impressively shows how women and girls are viewed as commodities in a male-dominated world. It doesn't shy away from showing us this harsh world in small bites.

Even if, of course, these only glimpses of the true harshness.

The main actress and the brothel owner deserve special credit here, for they play their roles very convincingly.

It's also good that Maria's subsequent fate isn't presented through rose-colored glasses. Because in this world where nothing is free, she can only pay with her body.