This movie was not entirely a waste of time. It is educational. We learn that Brazil is not all spotless beaches and festivals. We learn it is a land of drab work-a-day people, of people who cling to the outside of commuter trains, of dank faceless project-like housing. We learn that so many people are illiterate that they must pay another to write letters for them.
We also learn that Brazil is a place in which a little boy can watch the death of his mother in a traffic accident and just be left at the scene to fend for himself.
The main character is a charlatan letter writer who makes fun of the letters later with her girlfriend, and then throws them away. She has no scruples and one shudders to learn that she is a retired school teacher! The picture lacks any humor or lightness whatsoever. Brazil is shown to be a third world mess. We are never sure why the letter writer offers shelter to the petulant waif. He is neither cute nor endearing.
The ending is inexplicable. When she finally finds people that accept and need her, that would no doubt rejoice at her remaining with them, she runs home to her tragic existence as if none of this had ever happened. Has she grown at all?
But one must admit that the acting was natural and good all around, and that explains my four star rating.
We also learn that Brazil is a place in which a little boy can watch the death of his mother in a traffic accident and just be left at the scene to fend for himself.
The main character is a charlatan letter writer who makes fun of the letters later with her girlfriend, and then throws them away. She has no scruples and one shudders to learn that she is a retired school teacher! The picture lacks any humor or lightness whatsoever. Brazil is shown to be a third world mess. We are never sure why the letter writer offers shelter to the petulant waif. He is neither cute nor endearing.
The ending is inexplicable. When she finally finds people that accept and need her, that would no doubt rejoice at her remaining with them, she runs home to her tragic existence as if none of this had ever happened. Has she grown at all?
But one must admit that the acting was natural and good all around, and that explains my four star rating.