Passionada

"Passionada" is a very light and enjoyable film. But the story has been done a million times over by Hollywood and on TV. It's the typical tale of a worldly, WASPy guy who meets and romances an ethnic, family-devoted girl. You just knew that there would be a clash of cultures and an eventual break-up. She would undoubtedly tempt her guy with ethnic food, dance and song, and even sensual sex. And he would tempt her with excitement, luxuries, and new adventures that only a man from outside her world could promise her. Sound familiar? Some people here complained about the lack of authenticity due to the director using non-Portuguese actors and Brazilian music. I don't think it made any difference. The acting and music and shots of the locale were very authentic and first-rate. The only thing that I couldn't figure out was all the casino scenes, since there are no casinos in New Bedford, Mass. The nearest ones are Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods in Conn., over an hour away. And Vicky, the young daughter, drove her scooter all the way over there and back on school nights? And if Charlie was such a professional card counter at Blackjack, banned from every casino, why was he broke? I must've missed something during a bathroom break. Other than that, "Passionada" is a fun film and a good insight into Portuguese-American culture, if that's your thing.

In a Portuguese fishing colony, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the widow singer of "Fado" Célia Amonte (Sofia Milos) has been grieving the death of her beloved fisherman husband for seven years. She lives with her teenager daughter Vicky (Emmy Rossum), and her mother-in-law is her neighbor next door. The English gambler Charles Beck, who is spending some days with his wealthy friends Daniel Vargas (Seymour Cassel) and Lois (Theresa Russell), falls in love with her, and lies about his past to conquer the love of Célia. "Passionada" is a nice romance. Indeed, it is literally a delicious romance, with many Portuguese and Spanish dishes, which made me feel hungry. The story is predictable, but a great entertainment, and the cast is very attractive. I glanced some reviews in IMDb, and I really found very funny comments. First of all, the Portuguese spoken along the movie is from Portugal. There is a joker, who wrote that the accent was from Brazil, but only the Portuguese people who live in Brazil has that accent (just in time, my grandmother was Portuguese and I am Brazilian, so I can tell about accents). I do not know Spanish, but "Passionada" is neither a Portuguese nor an English word. I believe that it might be a combination of the English word "Passion" (from Charles Beck, the English card player) with "Apaixonada" (from Portuguese, meaning in love), with the author playing with words. Célia prepares many dishes of fish and seafood for Charles, and she has never mentioned that they are Portuguese dishes (inclusive one of them is from Mozambique). There are dozens of ways of preparing "bacalhau" (codfish), and not only oven-made, and the "bolinhos de bacalhau" (codfish cakes) are perfect. Indeed, Paella is a typical Spanish dish, but her intention is to show Charles different meals she was able to cook. In accordance with IMDb information, Sofia Milos was born in Zurich, Switzerland, and not in Greece. At the street parade, the song is sang with the Portuguese of Portugal accent. The song, when they dance is "A Felicidade", a Brazilian "bossa nova" of Vinicious de Morais and Tom Jobim (it is not a "samba", or "soft???-samba"). It is amazing the number of nonsense I read about this movie in IMDb. The alternative end is horrible and fortunately was deleted. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): This DVD is not available in Brazil.

"Passionada" is all about Milos as a beautiful Portuguese widow and cabaret singer who mourns the loss of her fisherman husband while her daughter and gambling prodigy Rossum consorts with professional card player Issacs to get good old mom out of her funk. The result is a beautifully shot film with marginally interesting characters and an uneventful story which spends most of its time with Issacs courting a reluctant Milos with his English accent and glib patter. The film wanders somewhere between romantic drama and romantic comedy not taking a firm position thereby diluting its ability to be engaging in either genre. Nonetheless, romantics and sentimentalists will appreciate this languorous but pretty film with a cosmopolitan flavor. (B-)

The cinematography is fantastic. I even shed some tears as did my friend.

However, my brother and I, both born in Portugal, were disappointed with the pronunciation of the Portuguese, more Brazilian Portuguese than Portuguese from Portugal. Although the Fado lip sung by the main character was moving it was obvious that the actress was lip singing. Sofia Milos did a fine job as Celia Amonte, but aren't there any Portuguese-American aspiring actresses in Hollywood? The reason my Big Fat Greek Wedding was such a sleeper success is that most of the cast playing Greeks were Greek-American. It is obvious that the research of the Portuguese culture, language and cuisine was minimal. I'm amazed that this movie was filmed on location in New Bedford, MA, yet there were so many ethnic faux-pas. Were any authentic Portuguese-Americans advisors on this movie? Why is it that other American ethnic groups can have movies made of them with correct speech, etc. and that the Portuguese can not? Example: Mystic Pizza. At least Mystic Pizza only played Portuguese folkloric music not Brazilian Samba music. If Hollywood is to make a movie about the Portuguese in America they should keep it Portuguese.

The movie's website mentions "the sadness within" as being a rough translation for the title of one of the film's central love songs, the haunting and emotionally wrenching "Triste Sina".. The translated words, in fact, evoke the state of being that heroine Celia Amonte has made her way of life. And moving through the first few minutes of the story, one can empathize with her reluctance to step beyond the borders of a life that once was.. She was loved in great measure, after all, so it would seem a safer bet to live on in grief rather than pretend love of that depth can ever be felt again.. The tale of how she gradually brings herself to open up to do so, and how the man who seduces and awakens her also wakes up to his own responsibility and entanglement in her life, really pulled me in. I loved it, and loved all of these characters, even in broadly drawn moments. I just wanted them to be happy :).. The scene that sums up the film's title for me, is the night Celia prepares a meal for her new admirer, Charlie. The way that scene unfolds was as delicious and mouth-watering as I imagine the culinary offerings were ;).. The overall mood and atmosphere of it stayed with me long afterwards, which to me if the mark of a truly effecting story. Well done.