Fernanda Torres Movies
- 2008
Filmmaker Eduardo Coutinho walks the narrow line between reality and drama in this offbeat documentary. Coutinho placed a classified ad in a Brazilian newspaper looking for ordinary women who would be willing to discuss their lives on camera. After filming interviews with twenty-three subjects who responded, Coutinho narrowed his focus down to eight women, and then brought in five actresses to re-enact their stories on camera -- Andrea Beltrao, Lana Guelero, Marilia Pera, Mary Sheyla and Fernanda Torres. In Jogo de Cena (aka Playing), Coutinho cuts back and forth between interviews with the women who share their real-life stories and the actresses interpreting their monologues, discussing everything from their lives with their families to movies they've seen. Periodically, the actresses take a break from their roles to discuss their own perspectives on the project and the nature of their craft. Playing received its North American premiere at the 2008 Miami Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Three generations of women struggle to make lives for themselves and their families in the desert wastes of Northern Brazil in a drama from filmmaker Andrucha Waddington. In 1910, Vasco de Sá (Ruy Guerra) leads his wife, Áurea (Fernanda Torres), and her mother, Dona Maria (Fernanda Montenegro), to their new home -- a ramshackle cabin in Maranhão, a tiny village in the middle of a barren sand dune. Vasco and Áurea's new neighbors are hardly welcoming of the new arrivals, especially Massu (Seu Jorge), and when Vasco unexpectedly dies, Áurea and Dona Maria are left to fend for themselves, an especially vexing challenge as Áurea is with child. Nine years later, Áurea and Dona Maria have turned their cottage into a home, but life in Maranhão remains a constant uphill battle, and Áurea dreams of moving away with her daughter, Maria (Camilla Facundes). Áurea becomes infatuated with Luiz (Enrique Diaz), who works with a group of astronomers who have come to Maranhão to observe an eclipse, but their romance comes to a crashing halt when Dona Maria is killed. By 1942, Maria (now played by Fernanda Torres) is a promiscuous alcoholic who brings shame to Áurea (now played by Fernanda Montenegro). After the body of an Air Force pilot is found near Maranhão, a military officer is sent to investigate -- Luiz (now played by Stenio Garcia). When Luiz meets Maria, he sees the image of the woman he longed for years before, and while she doesn't have the same feelings for him, Maria realizes that Luiz represents her best hope of finally escaping the village she's come to hate. The House of Sand received its North American premiere at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
This $1 million Brazilian feature, co-directed by Walter Salles (handling the camera) and Daniela Thomas (handling the actors), is another in the "2000 Seen By..." series of Millennium-themed films co-produced by France's Haut & Court. As Millennium parties get underway in Rio, Joao (Luis Carlos Vasconcellos) escapes from jail by murdering his cellmate Pedro and slipping away during the confusion. Meanwhile, speech therapist Maria (Fernanda Torres) finds a note indicating that her lover Pedro (Carlos Vereza) has moved out. With her telephone broken, she begins wandering the confetti-filled streets in search of a working phone. Joao heads into the hills to get revenge on his betrayer, but eventually Joao and Maria intersect. Shot in one week, this film was shown at 1998 film festivals (Locarno, Toronto). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fernanda Torres, Luis Carlos Vasconcelos, (more)
- 1997
In this seemingly semi-autobiographical drama from Brazilian writer-director Julio Bressane (The Mandarin), young Rio de Janeiro filmmaker Joao Miramar (Joao Rebello) is shaped by a wide variety of experiences and influences -- from poetry to philosophy, and from a producer (Fernanda Torres) who advises him to remain true to himself, to an actress (Giulia Gam) who brings out his passionate side -- while flashbacks capture his childhood memories. Shown at the 1997 Venice Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joao Rebello, Diogo Vilela, (more)
Bruno Barreto returned to his native Brazil after a ten-year absence to direct this fact-based political thriller that was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Pedro Cardoso stars as Rio de Janeiro journalist Fernando Gabeira, who decides with his friend Cesar (Selton Mello) to take up arms with a radical leftist organization, MR-8, in 1969. The revolutionaries, who include the tough-talking and beautiful Maria (Fernanda Torres), are fighting to overthrow Brazil's brutal military government through civil unrest and guerilla tactics. Their first action, the robbery of a bank, is successful, although one group member is captured and tortured by Henrique (Marco Ricca), a secret service agent plagued by his conscience. As a follow-up to the heist, the MR-8 members kidnap the U.S. ambassador to Brazil, Charles Burke Elbrick (Alan Arkin). During four days of captivity, however, the kidnappers discover that their prisoner is a good-hearted man of conscience, causing Fernando to become increasingly uneasy about the group's plan to kill Elbrick if a demand for the release of political prisoners goes unheeded. O Que E Isso, Companheiro? (1997) was based on Gabeira's book of the same name but was released in the U.S. under the title Four Days in September. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alan Arkin
This beautifully photographed black and white Brazilian mystery chronicles the union between Paco, an aspiring actor living in Sao Paulo, and Brazil-born Alex, who works as a waitress in Lisbon, Portugal. Much of the tale is set in 1990 when Brazilian president Fernando Collor de Mello threw his country into an economic tailspin by suddenly confiscating the savings accounts of the entire population. At this time, Paco is living with his elderly mother in a poor Sao Paulo neighborhood. Tired of living in squalor, the mother dreams of returning to her native Spain. When she learns that her savings have been seized, the shocked old woman drops dead. Now without his mother, Paco feels little desire to stay in Brazil and so meets with the sleazy Igor, an antique dealer, and agrees to smuggle a violin stuffed with raw diamonds to Lisbon. Paco is to take the fiddle to a certain hotel where he will be paid by the contact. Unfortunately, he arrives, but the contact doesn't. This incident leads him down a twisted road filled with murder, danger and intrigue that eventually ends in the arms of Alex. In many films, this would be the end of the story, but not for Alex and Paco, for they cannot relax and enjoy their relationship unless they can somehow escape the murderous thugs Igor sent to kill them. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fernanda Torres, Fernando Alves Pinto, (more)
- 1993
- R
Hugo Assis (Jose Mayer) runs a mining company's operations in the jungles of Brazil. That's not so unusual. What intrigues Elisa Medeiros (Fernanda Torres), an investigative journalist assigned to report on his story, is that he has ties with the native peoples of the jungle. He believes that his wife is long since deceased, and has no qualms beginning an affair with Elisa. Things grow very complicated indeed when Hugo's wife shows up wanting to involve him in a moneymaking scheme which would destroy what is left of the land the natives have been living on. The reporter decides to act as an advocate for the indigenous people, and soon a full-fledged battle has broken out in the media. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fernanda Torres, Jose Mayer, (more)
- 1986
This is a well-executed psychological drama with exceptionally good acting. Fernanda Torres stars as a newly separated woman with one child who meets her estranged husband (Thales Pan Chacon) for a heart-to-heart. They plumb the depths of their feelings and look back on their relationship with a certain degree of distance and insight. They argue, discuss, and talk some more. As their deepest fears, insecurities, pleasures, and hopes are slowly revealed, the most crucial question of their relationship remains unsaid: are they still in love? If so, why all this chatter? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Thales Pan Chacon
