O Palhaço

The Clown is a charming Brazilian film from 2011 that's definitely worth a watch! Directed by Selton Mello, who also stars as the lead character, Paiva, the film delves into the life of a circus clown navigating personal identity and the bittersweet struggles of life behind the makeup. What I loved most about it is its balance between comedy and deeper emotional moments. It's definitely a story about finding one's place in the world, which resonates with everyone in some way. The cinematography captures the vibrant yet melancholic atmosphere of the circus beautifully, and the performances are heartfelt, especially Mello's portrayal of a clown grappling with feelings of inadequacy and longing. The film is filled with small, touching moments-like the bond between Paiva and his fellow performers-that really pull you in.

It's funny, it's sad, and it's oddly uplifting.

In his second work as director, Selton Mello was able to abstract from simplicity and ingenuous humor an exceptional and complete piece. A very short film, without clichés or redundancies, that touches us as well as makes us laugh at simple scenes. Remarks on the Brazilian dramaturgy pearls recovered in unique scenes. We got to understand the clown's agony without getting blue, and we follow his search for a reason. Exceptionally, the first hour with all its monotony flies and we do not realize. As the last half hour conclusion (with a "golden key", as one would say) widens so we can enjoy every second. Simplicity, ingenuity, genius that make reach the completeness of the show.

Sorry Selton, but obviously you're no Charlie Chaplin, neither as an actor nor as a director. You need to learn the difference between "naive" and "simplistic". It was a fatal mistake to decide to utilize the creative cop-out of a narrator, who rather than commenting, only describes, and here sounds as if he's reading from subtitles for the visually impaired: he says "the people wait", and we see people waiting; he says "the little girl smiles", and we see the little girl smiling This becomes very tiresome very quickly. The pandering to each local mayor is amusing, the photography is well-done, and the music track appropriate. But all in all, it's very easy to understand why this movie didn't make the Academy's short list.

I've saw the movie "O Palhaço" and my expectation about the movie was positive, because they really show the beginning of the circus, and was just like this. If you compare with a modern circle, you won't like the movie, because they are in another reality.

Between the old circus and the circus of nowadays the clown will always be the celebrity.

About director, actors, everyone did a great job, same as the soundtrack who gives to the movie the truth perspective, by the way the soundtrack is amazing.

So, I recommend this movie.

Very bad the film "O PALHAÇO" (The Clown), directed and played by Senton Mello. I pity for the children that I saw many mothers taking to watch this annoying movie, thinking it would supply the lack of a actual circus nowadays in Brazilian big cities. The story tells about a depressed clown,but the cheating advertising from Imagem Filmes hides that. It is a boring movie, depressing, irritating, long-winded, tedious, filled with many unnecessary sequences, as well as with dead times and jokes with no fun at all. The few jokes are about farts and low humorous things like that. I was compelled several times to leave the session in the middle, and it was a relief to realize that it was not a very long movie.