Othon Bastos Movies

A son leans more than expected about his father in the wake of his violent death in this drama from Brazil. Antonio (Bernardo Marinho) is the son of a wealthy banker, Mauro (Antonio Calloni), but has little interest in following in his dad's footsteps. Antonio is a college man studying filmmaking, and doesn't have much interest in Mauro's staid life in finance, while Mauro is wary of his son's seeming lack of interest in women, though he's mistaken Antonio's shyness for apathy. Antonio discovers some paperwork which suggests his father may be guilty of legal improprieties relating to his business, but before he can confront Mauro, the banker is found dead along a busy highway, and the police suspect foul play. Antonio's mother Angela (Giulia Gam) is distraught at the news, and as he tries to comfort her, Antonio is forced to take over the family's affairs. As Antonio goes through their accounts, he suspects his father's business misdeeds may be connected to his death. While Antonio struggles to determine the truth behind his father's death, he encounters Carmen (Carolina Ferraz), a beautiful woman who knew Mauro and may have shared a ride with him on his fateful night. Through Carmen, Antonio learns about his father's reckless early life and his way with the ladies, which inspires Antonio to gather his courage and try to make time with two of his more attractive classmates, Cristina (Luiza Mariani) and Adriana (Luana Carvalho). O Passageiro: Segredos de Adulto (aka The Passenger: Adult Secrets) received its North American premiere at the 2007 Palm Springs International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Lais Bodanzky makes her directorial debut with this harrowing expose of an archaic Brazilian mental hospital, based on a memoir by noted activist Austregesilo Carrano. The film revolves around Neto (Rodrigo Santoro), an average Brazilian teenager who likes to skateboard, rock-and-roll, drink beer, and smoke the odd joint. His youthful waywardness infuriates his severe, demanding father (Othon Bastos), who longs for his son to be a success. One day, Neto hits the road with his buddy Lobo, but when Lobo cheats him, he finds himself out of cash. Forced to beg strangers for bus fare, Neto is seduced by a beautiful older woman. When he returns a couple days later, his father is apoplectic. When, days later, he gets picked up by the cops for vandalism and for possessing a joint, his father completely wigs out and has him institutionalized. The mental hospital is something out of the dark days of the Soviet Union -- patients are drugged, catatonic, and often bound to their beds. Neto tries to explain his situation, but the hospital refuses to release him. They have to keep their numbers up to meet the patient quota. If Neto was sane before his stay, he was left unhinged and emotional fragile upon his release. Soon his depression and his mood swings land him back in an asylum where, out of desperation, he does something violent. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Former documentary filmmaker Walter Salles (Foreign Land) directed this Brazilian-French road movie tracing the travels and travails of a young boy and an aging woman across the Brazilian landscape. In Rio de Janeiro's central railroad station, callous Dora (leading Brazilian stage/screen actress Fernanda Montenegro) works at a stand where she writes letters for a parade of poor and illiterate. Some of these remain undelivered because she chooses not to mail all of the letters. One of her customers is a woman whose nine-year-old son, Josue (Vinicius de Oliveira), hopes to see the father he has never met, but after the mother dictates two letters to the father, she's killed when hit by a bus. Since Josue is left homeless, Dora reluctantly takes him home to her small apartment overlooking the railroad tracks, where she sometimes spends time with her neighbor Irene (Marilia Pera). Dora places Josue with people who claim to find adoptive parents. When Irene informs her they actually sell children who are then killed for their organs, Dora rescues Josue, and the two board a bus. After a failed attempt to abandon Josue at a roadside stop, Dora and Josue hitch a ride from a religious truck driver. Failing to locate his father, they arrive penniless at a huge rural religious convocation, where Josue suggests Dora bring her letter-writing skills back into play. The notion works, and Dora profits by writing letters to saints for the more devout among the assembled multitudes. Continuing on, they arrive at a sprawling-mass housing development -- and hopefully, a solution to the problem of a family for Josue. Young actor de Oliveira was a shoeshine boy who beat out more than 1,500 other children who auditioned or were interviewed for the Josue role. Made with grants from the Sundance Institute, NHK, and the French Ministry of Culture, this film was shown at 1998 film festivals (Sundance, Berlin). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Weighing in heavily on the side of atrocities against the black slaves of 18th-century Brazil, this uneven drama is centered on the legend of Galanga, King of the Congo. Galanga is first captured and after the long segments of atrocities have subsided, his owner promises him full freedom if he can find a source of gold on his plantation. Galanga not only succeeds in finding the mother lode, but with that discovery gets his freedom and a mine to go with it. His owner is persecuted by others for his liberal views, while Galanga, in the meantime, has established himself as a leader in the emancipation of the slaves. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This violent feature concerns the cacao wars of Brazil in the 1920s. Gods symbolically come to life and interact with the humans who perpetuate the murderous bloodbaths. This film was one of two official entries for Brazil at the 1970 Berlin Film Festival and it illustrates the troubles of both the working class and social elite. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The Brazilian Antonio Das Mortes casts Mauricio De Valle as a mercenary peacekeeper. Agreeing to hunt down and kill rebel soldiers, the mercenary becomes increasingly drawn to the rebel's cause. His 11th-hour turnaround does not prevent the film from ending in a bloodbath. Antonio das Mortes unabashedly casts its lot with such insurgents as Che Guevara. As such, this 1968 film had difficulty finding an American distributor until two years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Just twenty five years old, Brazilian cinema novo force Glauber Rocha wrote and directed this impressive feature addressing socio-political problems within his country--and indeed, anywhere it may apply. It is the 1940s, during another drought in the Brazilian sertao, when ranch hand Manuel is fed up with his situation. His boss tries to cheat him of his earnings and Manuel kills him, fleeing with his wife, Rosa. Now an outlaw, Manuel joins up with a self-proclaimed saint who condones violence and preaches disturbing doctrines. It is now Rosa who turns to killing and the two are on the move once again. And so it goes, the two running from one allegience to another, following the words of others as they attempt to find a place in their ruthless land. Blending mysticism, religion, and popular culture in this symbolic and realistic drama, Rocha insists that rather than follow the external and obscure dogmas of culture and religion, man must determine his path by his own voice. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide