L'autre côté de la rue

Regina, played by Fernanda Montenegro, is an older woman with firm opinions about people and life. Retired, estranged from family, and living with a pet dog, she spends her days (and nights) as a police volunteer reporting criminal activity near her home, a large apartment tower across from Copacabana beach.

The work gives Regina gives purpose and meaning to any otherwise empty life. Much of her success is likely due to the fact that in a neighborhood crowded with young, beautiful people, an elderly woman is practically invisible.

One day she sees a man kill his wife. When the police refuse to act, Regina decides to investigate on her own. The quiet story that follows is engaging, surprising, and full of insights into the life of the elderly.

7/10

I just saw this film here in NYC...where to begin. I don't see why it garnered so much praise from film festivals. The pace was extremely sluggish, the were no real plot points to speak of, and the dialogue was not that good.

There were some cute moments, but they are not enough to prop this film up or make a story. The characters have no backstory (or very little), and we have no reason to care about them. Some of the ideas of the script could have been used to fashion a story about something, a detective story perhaps, but as it is, no dice. I'd pass on this one. The minutes dragged like hours, I kept waiting for something to happen, but it never did. Oh, and it was full of "moody moments" (I hate those), where the camera focuses on the character, who supposedly is experiencing something internally (we don't know what), and mood music...it was depressing! The story didn't even make it off the runway.

Brazilian movies often appeal to things such as violence, drugs, and (mostly) sex. This one is different. It tells the story of an elderly woman (Fernanda Montenegro) who lives alone and works for the police by reporting crimes she sees when she goes out or looks out the window. One night, she sees what appears to be a murder on the apartment across the street (somewhat hitchcocky, this part). A man (Raul Cortez) gives his wife an injection and she dies. The police doesn't listen to her, so she has to go find out the truth by herself. That's when the beautiful and enchanting love story begins. This woman falls in love with the suspect (who's also an elderly man) and finds out that it's never too late to live a love story again.

It shows that even if you think you're the loneliest person alive, and have no hope, someone will be there waiting for you. no matter how old you are.

This movie really makes me proud. It shows sex, but in a beautiful way. It shows violence, but in a real-but-not-too-shocking way... it's about loneliness, hope, and of course, love!

Fernanda Montenegro and Raul Cortez have an incredibly wonderful chemestry, they're both marvelous actors, and did a great job... and so did the director Marcos Berstein. The photography (cinematography?) is also wonderful. One of the best brazilian movies ever, for sure. a MUST-SEE! 9 out of 10!

Fernanda Montenegro, the Brazilian national acting treasure who starred in Walter Salles's 1998 international hit, "Central Station," returns in the role of Regina, a long divorced, trim and plucky woman who sees no reason why aging should render people as either "old, crippled or idiots" as she candidly puts it to another older woman.

Like a lot of well off aging women in the area, Regina dutifully walks her dog Betina along Rio's Copacabana Beach each morning and dotes on her preschool age grandson. But she also spends her time these days as one of several volunteer undercover informers in "Senior Service," a special program to assist the local police.

Her code name is "Snow White" and she has never been wrong in fingering suspects for her leader, Detective Alcides. She hangs out in disco clubs where drug deals are made and other places that are more than a tad dangerous for anybody.

But Regina goes too far when one night she observes through her binoculars a man in an apartment across the street from her place giving what appears to be a lethal injection to a woman. It turns out the man is an important judicial official in the government, and Det. Alcides fires Regina for getting him in trouble after he sends officers to the judge's apartment to investigate the death of his wife, who, it turns out, was dying of cancer.

Matters take a different turn when Regina sets things up to begin a relationship with the judge, Camargo (Raul Cortez), in order to get the goods on him, only to find herself drifting toward a romantic attachment to his man. The judge's movement from suspect to lover in Regina's estimation occurs in an entirely convincing manner.

The screenplay, based on a story by the director, Marcos Bernstein, who also co-wrote the script for "Central Station" and makes his directorial debut here. The film is almost without exception well crafted, the dialogue sparkling. Ms. Montenegro, who was 74 when this film was shot, is enchanting: think of the Italian actress Giulietta Masina but with more of an edge. Mr. Cortez is more than adequate playing opposite her. (In Portuguese) My rating: 8/10 (B+). (Seen on 02/15/05). If you'd like to read more of my reviews, send me a message for directions to my websites.

Very nice Brazilian neo-noir, a mix of Rear Window with romantic drama in the third-age, with Copacabana as the background. The script is very well written (very nice and smart dialogs, often funny), and direction, acting (Fernanda Montenegro, Raul Cortez and, although with a minor role, Laura Cardoso!) and shooting are excellent. Quite good underrated movie.