Central do Brasil

Was fortunate to have been able to watch this beautiful 1998 Brazilian show tonight entitled: Central do Brasil. Not that it matters, but this show was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Oscars. It went on to win 29 other awards (including the Golden Globe) at other film festivals and 9 other nominations.

It is an emotive journey of a former school teacher, who write letters for illiterate people at Rio de Janeiro's central train station, Central do Brasil; and a young boy, whose mother has just died in a car accident, to Brazil's remote Northeast in search for the father he never knew. While he was looking for a father he never knew, she was looking for a second chance in life.

Central do Brasil is a beautiful film about the human spirit, not a quickly paced movie, but a rewarding one. The film is a journey undertaken by the unlikely pair - a crotchety old woman who, before now, happily inflicted harm in others' lives (you've gotta see the movie to know why), and an innocent child who tries to peel away the callous shell she has erected. Naturally, a friendship blossoms between the two, and, at some point along the way, she becomes likeable to the viewer. Her conversion is a gradual one, however.

Central do Brasil also does an excellent job of showing the poverty and underdevelopment of central Brazil. The desolation evident during Dora and Josue's journey lets us focus not only upon their desperation, but upon their relationship and Dora's softening, which is really the focus of the film, not Josue's search for his father - for we never knew whether his father indeed returned home. And even if you don't feel warm for Dora's change of heart, her metamorphosis certainly makes this movie an emotional, enjoyable watch.

There were many quiet scenes in this movie that speaks volumes of emotions. For example, when she woke up in his lap left in the middle of the streets, or when she walked away after the brothers reunite. But the ending, I am sure, will touch you - in many ways than one. I watched this from a little gem of a shop very near where I teach on Tuesdays. You may wish to check out their other foreign movies' gems by clicking here.

This movie does not pretend. It is afterall, a story about life's journeys - celebrating our strengths and our weaknesses but yet despite that, persevering to better ourselves from time to time, even though so excruciatingly slowly. Dora, in the end, turned out to be the winner, as much as Josue as well. Definitely worth a watch.

Where was I in 1998?