Chico Xavier

I was recommended this movie by a Brazilian friend, and when I watched it, I had actually never heard of the character portrayed in this movie. A man known as Chico Xavier who from a very young age hears voices and sees people who are dead and communicate with him. A bit like 6th sense, except that Chico Xavier is not scared of them, and the movie doesn't pretend to turn real facts into a drama.

So, the movie is very much about the medium's subject. It is not something that particularly interests me, although I have always thought that there could be something out there. Whatever your view on this matter, do not expect this movie to give you an explanation. What will happen is that you will either take this as a lot of crap or actually venerate this man if you didn't know him prior to watching the film.

Personally, I think Chico Xavier is a movie for Brazilian viewers mainly, because there, he was in fact a popular and well known person who appeared on television. And while there's no denying that it is always interesting to hear the story of someone you didn't know, the reality is that as a movie it was just acceptable for a Sunday afternoon.

Chico Xavier is the latest flick following the Brazilian trend of biographical movies. Directed by the artistically inept soap-opera director Daniel Filho, Chico Xavier appears to be a film made exclusively to make big bucks out of an audience of religious viewers. And at this, it has been extremely successful. Instead of adopting a balanced approach to present the life of controversial spiritual figure Chico Xavier, the script and direction faithfully follow a biographical book that portrays the main character as a sort of martyr saint of spiritism. From the opening scene in a talk show in the 1970's it is quite clear that the spiritual powers and infinite benigness of Chico Xavier will overcome any difficulties and conquer even the most skeptic minds. The director resorts to a number of cheap devices to make the audience emotional and oblivious to the story's many flaws and inconsistencies. All the possible objections to the spiritual phenomena attributed to the so-called medium are quickly dismissed with some extraordinary event or an incredible display of generosity by Chico or his friends from the other side. That is exactly why the movie fails to elicit real drama and tension in anyone who appreciates a well-told human story. We can't really connect to someone who stoically endures great suffering and incomprehension without ever having a single burst of anger or revolt. Some scenes are almost comical in its zealousness to promote the sainthood of Chico, like the one in which his father takes him, as a young man, to a brothel. The cast includes many well-known Brazilian soap-opera actors who do not really make much of a difference to the overall sleepy mood of the entire work. Regardless of religious beliefs, it is impossible not to recognize the immense influence Chico Xavier has had on the Brazilian people. That is exactly why his story deserved better than this half-cooked piece of commercial cinema.

It's a quite hard work to portrait the essence of Chico Xavier's life. Although he lived 92 years and psycho-graphed more than 400 books, Chico Xavier's life was, above all superlatives, an example of charity, love to his fellowman, resignation, patience and true Christian humbleness. Not even his written works are more important than his example as a good man.

The movie, based on Marcel Souto Maior's best-seller As Vidas de Chico Xavier (The Lives of Chico Xavier), portraits his life from the age of 9 (performed by the incredible boy-actor Matheus Costa) until his adulthood. Ângelo Antonio performs Chico Xavier as young man and Nelson Xavier (no parenthood, by the way) performs the character as a mature/old man. It's quite poignant to see how Chico Xavier was misunderstood during his childhood and and throughout his life. As a boy he was called "the haunted kid", lunatic and lier. Such "fame" would result in terrible beatings by his father and godmother (who took care of him after the death of his beloved mother). As a young man he was persecuted and accused of mystification, despite having given his entire life to ease the pain of many families who lost their loved ones.

Daniel Filho's direction is discreet. He opted to tell the story without special effects (had all reasons to use them) or great cinematographic tricks. His direction is secure, almost linear, but resulted in a great effect, since it never conflicts or steals the spotlights from the most important figure of the movie, Chico Xavier itself. Egbert Gismonti's musical score is superb, fusing traditional religious songs with sounds of nature, involving the scenes with a magical and emotional atmosphere at the same time. Marcos Bernstein's screenplay is correct but fails a bit when leaves many important facts out of the final script. Nonato Estrela's cinematography is good, although a little dark in many sequences of the movie.

Concerning the cast, the movie has the amazing performance of Nelson Xavier, which resemblance to the character itself is creepy. He gives the character a suave/humorous flavor, without exaggerating in any time. Ângelo Antonio shows an insecure and naive Chico Xavier in his younger days and Matheus Costa plays the role with all its suffering and feeling of incomprehension. Ana Rosa as Carmen shows how to make bigger a bit participation. Tony Ramos and Cristine Torloni are pure emotion, André Dias as Emmanuel (Chico Xavier's spiritual guide) plays his role with great dignity and Pedro Paulo Rangel as Father Scarzelo gives a show-stopping performance making his character to explode on the silver screen.

For all those above reasons I do recommend the movie. For those who, like me, met him in person and for those who still do not know him, this movie is a great opportunity to get to know who was Chico Xavier, a man called love!

First of all, I would like to say that I have no religion or spiritual belief; therefore, I was reluctant to see "Chico Xavier". Further, I have never followed the life or achievements of Chico Xavier, and I am absolutely impressed with his biography.

This film has a magnificent screenplay, following the remarkable life of Chico Xavier since he was nine years old in 1919 through flashbacks in the Saulo Guimarães' talk show and the personal drama of the atheist TV director Orlando and his wife Glória that lost their beloved son in an accident with a weapon with his best friend.

The acting is top-notch, and the unknown boy Matheus Costa is spectacular in the role of a nine year-old Chico Xavier. The haunting music score is another plus in this film.

For those like me that do not know the biography of Chico Xavier, I would like to highlight the following information:

Chico Xavier's spiritual guide was Emmanuel. He wrote 412 books; sold 40 million units in 33 languages, including 30 books in Braille. However, Chico Xavier has denied the authorship of the books and has never received any copyright for any book. All the revenue with the selling has been donated to beneficent institutions. Another interesting point is that Chico Xavier has always said that he would die when the Brazilian people would be happy. He died on 30 June 2002, with 92 years old and ten hours after the Brazilian soccer team wins the World Cup for the fifth time.

Last but not the least; this film is better and better than "Lula, O Filho do Brasil" that was selected to dispute the nomination to the Oscar in the Best Foreign Language category.

My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Chico Xavier"

This movie is not just amazing because it get our attention since the first beginning... It is also amazing because it makes us think about what really matters in life.. It gives us a different perspective about different kinds of subjects and mainly because everything in the movie is real... comes after real events... Chico Xavier was not only a leader for a specific group of religious people, it is an example for all of us. I got my French friend to watch it and he is not spirist. He loved the movie, because it is not a movie for Brazilians, it is a movie for people who think deeper about life. Chico is the greatest recent example about how Christians should act. A man whose name can be love.