Movie Friday

This week, I'd like to recommend a Brazilian film from the late nineties Central Station.

The main character of the film is Dora, an older woman who works at the central station in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Her job is to write letters for people who aren't able to write letters themselves. Life hasn't been easy for Dora and she's pretty bitter about everything. Her life, her job, she hates it all. One of Dora's customers dictates a letter to an ex-lover telling him that he's the father of her child. Tragically, the mother is hit by a bus outside the station and killed. Her son Josue is orphaned with nowhere to go. Dora takes pity on Josue and takes him in. After a few twists and turns, they embark upon a journey across Brazil to find Josue's father.

One of the reasons I love this film is that it shows you a wide variety of scenes from many different parts of Brazil. In the U.S., we don't see or hear much about South America in the news. Brazil is the largest country in South America and has the fifth largest population in the world. (The United States is third behind China and India.) They have an incredibly rich and diverse population including a large Japanese community. Their national language is Portuguese making Brazil one of the few nations in South America that does not have Spanish as their official language. In the next few years, Brazil is going to become an economic powerhouse rivaling the United States amongst others. They have an amazing array of ecosystems. Everything from deserts to rain forests, large bustling cities to small quiet villages. It is a beautiful country.

The actors are superb in this film. Dora is played by a famous Brazilian actress Fernanda Montenegro. You can feel what a difficult and hard life she's had and how she's built a wall around her to protect her fragile emotions from the stormy harsh reality that her life has been. Josue is played by Vinicius de Oliveira, a boy who was found working as a shoeshine boy at the Central Station in Sao Paulo by casting directors. He gives a remarkable performance for an actor so young.

The movie is in Portuguese with subtitles and it's available through NetFlix. Add it to your queue today!

Hope you all have a great weekend. Cuidate.