Houve uma Vez Dois Verões

Chico (André Arteche) and Juca (Pedro Furtado) are two virgin teenagers and best friends spending their summer vacations in a beach in Rio Grande do Sul (I believe it is Tramandaí). Chico meets Roza (Ana Maria Mainieri) in a game house (Flipperama), they walk on the beach along the night and he loses his virginity with her. Roza vanishes, but some days later, she calls André and tells him that she is pregnant. She asks for about US$ 330.00 for an abortion and André sells his amplifier and gets money from his savings to pay for part of the surgery. Roza disappears again, and when Chico meets her once more, many secrets are disclosed. This romantic comedy is very funny and a good entertainment. The title of this movie is a kind of play on words with `Summer of 42', which is called in Brazil by `Houve Uma Vez Um Verão', which would be `Once It Happened a Summer'. Jorge Furtado story happens between two summers, and is about a young boy who falls in love with a mature woman. Therefore, for Brazilians, there is one more joke in this film, which is its title. Jorge Furtado is also the writer and director of the excellent film `O Homem Que Copiava'. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): `Houve Uma Vez Dois Verões' (`Once It Happened Two Summers')

I really care about Jorge Furtado's work. He is one of the most intelligent cinematic minds working today worldwide. Period. At the same time he is probably one the most not underrated but unknown creators. And there's something specially interesting about him. In 1989 he directed a most celebrated short film, "Ilha das Flores". That worked as a true manifest for his (and others) cinema. It's concentrated intentions. I love those works, when directors indicate a path, to be explored by them or others (Hitchcock did it with, in my opinion, 3 different projects, Rope, Vertigo and North by Northwest). Furtado did it with Ilha das Flores. And influenced a generation of filmmakers from Porto Alegre, Brazil. This is not the most wide known branch of Brazilian cinema (that would be the one Salles was able to publicize). But for me it's really worth attention.

Here we have the first long form in Furtado's career. And its weaknesses may come from there. His films (shorts and long) hold inside a different world. In that world we have simultaneously:

a)something that happens;

b)the explanation in detail of what is happening (and linking it to as much elements from outside that world as possible);

c)a sense of irony and self-criticism (consequently self-awareness) on that same world happening in front of us;

So this is built with self-reference, and always with intelligence. Where i think this particular project has lots of weaknesses is in the fact that the syllogistic thinking is not as clever and meaningful here as it was in say Ilha das Flores. There everything was in its perfect place, all the syllogisms were perfectly justified, sooner or later, and it fitted. Obviously the short form helps this coherent development. Also theme was quite meaningful in "ilha...". Anyway, this is the world of Furtado, and even though this isn't his strongest work (or even the strongest long film) it is still worth watching, despite the horribly lame acting and some poor aspects of production.

Nevertheless, if you can, reach "Ilha das Flores" to understand Furtado before anything else, and when you end up viewing all his movies, go back to ilha das flores. Oh and check Resnais's "Mon oncle d'Amérique" which shows where the linked thoughts started in film writing, at least in this specific form. The work of the french is not as fluid or ironic as Furtado's but he master the long form better than Furtado does here.

My evaluation: 3/5, it's still worth watching.

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You sit to watch this movie and you think you shouldn't have done that (sit). One, because the movie is almost finishing. And two, because it's boring and extended. There are some very bad performances, including Andre Arteche and Pedro Furtado. And there are some very grotesque things in the production, such as: some people in the background in some scenes are looking at the camera, the mike is visible a lot of times, the camera is visible a lot of times too. However, there are some shots that are very beautiful, such as the one where we see Roza picking up her stuff to leave. But that doesn't save this movie, that can only make you smile, but not laugh.

The teenagers in this movie are dumb and wise. It is interesting to see how they get in trouble for lack of experience, then keep getting smarter, or at least trying harder. They do not count on adults for help, and in doing so look quite believable. Shortly, this is a funny movie, and even a little romantic.