'Saudade - Sehnsucht' (THE LONGING) is a film by writer/director Jürgen Brüning who seems to have taken a vacation from Germany to Brazil with some friends and decided to make a movie as a means of entertainment. This film is less about characters and story development than it is about Brazilian beaches, snorkeling, fish butchering, second-rate pop music, and food.
Ostensibly we find three friends who've had a rock band in Germany on vacation in Brazil: Cyrus (Tarik Qazi) is interested in finding his Brazilian mother; Tim (Daniel Bätscher) remains determined to explore a new music sound; Erik (eye candy hunk Hendrik Scheider) wants to find love. The three finance their excursion by making daily film clips of body contact to use on the internet dating business. Their housekeepers Maria (Maria Lucia da Silva Ludwig) and Angela (Marilza da Cruz Pinto Gregião) feed their interests as well as their appetites. Most of their time is spent in clubs and at the beaches, pursuing little but opportunism. Erik has a tryst on the sand with a Brazilian man one night that ends in a death that sours his desire. When another attractive Brazilian lad Miguel (Aldri Anunciação) catches Erik's eye the two begin a struggle for a relationship, but Erik's previous encounter colors his ability to find happiness.
The actors are all attractive and given the fact that they have little to do but look alluring manage to make the film tolerable. But in the end the movie feels too self indulgent to satisfy any audience member. It is a piece of fluff disguised as a soap opera. Grady Harp