In Rio Verde, a country town on North of Minas Gerais, the naive Estela (Maria Sílvia) is a poor woman working as a maid in the house of an abusive family. She is fired after a quarrel, and while walking on the road, she meets the truck driver and pimp Julio, who invites her to stay with his sister at her place. Once there, he sends Estela to work and live in the local whorehouse. Emilia, the owner of the brothel, changes her name to Janete, and she has sex with the poetic journalist Zeca. She travels with him to the country to visit her parents, and Zeca falls in love for her. Later, Zeca tries to beat a Janete's costumer, and is killed. Estela leaves the whorehouse to work in a factory, but her life does not change much. When she meets with Júlio by chance, she moves to the big city of Belo Horizonte.
"Perdida" is a different movie, which tells the story of a poor woman that becomes a prostitute. The place and the soundtrack are very tacky, with variation from Brazilian country songs to tango. The story of Estela seems to be a compilation of the lives of many poor country girls, working with abusive bosses, humiliated in factories, surviving as whores or moving to the big cities trying to have a better life. Although having many naked women, this movie is not erotic, and the story is very amoral, since the character of Estela never questions her condition of prostitution, necessary for her survival and to raise some dough. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "Perdida" ("Lost")
