User Reviews

I could simply make a reference to Seinfeld's episode "The Chinese Restaurant", in which Jerry talks about Plan 9 From Outer Space, and calls it "the one that worked: the worst movie ever made", but I won't. The groundbreaking movie "É Fada" deserves a lot more, doing that isn't just wrong, but it's also to disdain such a great piece of work of Brazilian Art history.

If one knows Aluísio Azevedo (a Brazilian naturalist writer), one clearly sees the references to the book "O Cortiço" (literally it would be "beehive", but it's called Cortiço because that's the name of poor -- but not miserable -- people's popular living in Rio de Janeiro in the XIX century). Julia, our protagonist, is a contemporary version of Pombinha, "Cortiço's flower", because in the degenerate and degraded means (her new school), Julia contrasts for having such a strong personality. There's also a film version of Léonie, responsible for not only taking Pombinha's virginity but also introducing her to the world of prostitution, which would be her PE teacher, who insists that Julia should dance (remember, it's not having sex because it's a kids movie) in front of her class, even though the girl didn't want to. That role then goes to Geraldine (interpreted by our star Kéfera), who always forces the girl to adapt to the means (just like Aluísio Azevedo believed, since he was a strong determinist). In the book "O Cortiço", it's prostitution. Here, it's becoming a degenerate teenager. Just like Aluísio Azevedo's Jerônimo (another character from "O Cortiço"), Júlia's father is an honest and hard-working man who ceases to the sensuality, sexiness and carnal desires. In Azevedo's book, it's Rita Baiana, and in the movie, it's the protagonist's mother, divorced from him. The school baker's son is clearly a little Pombinha, too, but since determinism is pretty much criticized nowadays, he does not get corrupted. Geraldine (Kéfera) not only is the reflect of Julia's searches for desires and borders of pain and everything (which is not a theme for this review right now). The Fairy is also an extremely complex character with many, many influences. For instance, her catchy phrase about "three choices" is no doubt from Janus, the Roman deity, in which each of the possible choices opens up a new path, a new cycle.

I'm also led to see many Seinfeld references. Geraldine's boss is not very different from the classic Soup Nazi. Always strict and methodical, he is talented and ends succumbing to his small mistakes. In the Soup Nazi's case, he left a couple of recipes in the closet, and and in the case of Geraldine's boss, he let her sexy words and voice go up to his head. Júlia has a lot of Kenny Bania's traces, as in the scene in which, like Bania insists to have a dinner instead of a soup (which he did not consider dinner), she insisted in have an specific bracelet to enter in a party (which was Geraldine's idea). Geraldine's personality is also a mix of the four Seinfeld's main characters, which, as the sitcom, are brilliant.

I went to watch the movie expecting nothing much different from what Jerry expected from Plan 9 From Outer Space, and I ended seeing one of the all-time best movies and no doubt the best Brazilian movie ever.