Carlos Gregorio Movies
- 2000
They say that music is the food of love, but one woodwind player is having a hard time getting the recipe right in this romantic drama. A hapless clarinet player (Fernando Alves Pinto) in a chamber ensemble is head over heels in love with the beautiful woman (Vera Zimmermann) who is first chair violinist in his group. He has a hard time gaining her attention, however, and when he volunteers to help as a page turner in her duet recital with a veteran pianist (Vera Holtz), he manages to spoil the job and make a mess of the performance. Will his heartfelt performance of a Bach piece be enough to win her heart and earn her forgiveness? Tonica Dominante was the first feature from writer and director Lina Chamie. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernando Alves Pinto, Vera Zimmermann, (more)
- 1989
Leticia (Vera Fischer) is a beautiful woman who is the obsession of two men. One is her extremely jealous ex-lover, the other is a pilot who routinely makes trips to the gold mines in the jungles of the Amazon. Leticia is embroiled in a scheme to sell a forged painting which is supposedly by a famous artist. So is her ex and his assistant. Things get heated as the romantic competition between the two men is complicated by the shady business deal, and the action reaches a climax in the Amazon jungle. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vera Fischer, Paulo Betti, (more)
- 1989
Carla Camuratti stars as the revolutionary female intellectual Pagu in this film biography directed by Norma Bengell. When she meets writer Oswald de Andrade (Antonio Fagundes), leader of the Modernist movement, Pagu joins the social elite of Brazil who advocate the values of the bourgeois while living in luxurious splendor. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carla Camurati, Nina de Padua, (more)
- 1986
A better-than-average Brazilian docudrama, this look at 20 years in the life of the notorious Tenorio Cavalcanti (Jose Wilker) leans heavily on the contributions of his family. Cavalcanti was a gunslinger in the tradition of an American Western. He was elected to Congress, where he showed up wearing a long black coat, a matching beard, and toting a machine gun. He is reputed to have killed many an opponent and built himself a veritable fortress for protection against his enemies -- which would eventually include the Brazilian army. He defended the rights of the people of the Duque de Caxias region with a vengeance. This drama takes particular note of his activities between 1945, when he joined a major political party, and 1964, when a military coup ousted the elected president. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jose Wilker, Marieta Severo, (more)
- 1983
This boisterous Brazilian comedy is set in Dona Esperanzas lively bar and revolves around the tempestuous love between a bitchy soap opera diva and her husband, a writer for her show and an author of pulp romances. The trouble begins because the actress has become too involved with her role and this is not helped by the show's fans who constantly assault her. The other patrons of the bar lead equally soapy lives. When they all hear that the bar is about to be replaced by a shopping mall, they are devastated. Things really get nutty when a troupe of circus performers suddenly shows up. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugo Carvana, Anselmo Vasconcelos, (more)
- 1982
Two young friends grow up in the same region and share the same music and dances, and the same religious and cultural customs, yet their paths slowly diverge 180 degrees because one is the son of a politician and the other the son of a laborer. As the two grow apart, each has to address problems such as the abuse of power and the influence of a drug underground that are shared by many societies. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucelia Santos, Chico Diaz, (more)
- 1981
Using Nelson Rodrigues' play as a springboard, director Braz Chediak has made a movie about the multiple incestuous relationships of one family, and their misguided personal demons get worse as time wears on. The message remains essentially erotic, regardless of possible symbolic allusions to the society to which these people belong. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucelia Santos, Rubens W. Correa, (more)
- 1981
Director Alberto Graca has tried to re-create the environment in Brazil upon the return to civilian, party politics after more than 10 years of military rule. The opposition to military rule now spends its time in power struggles and temporary alliances as factions and parties vie for a place at the top of the ladder. None of the in-fighting among the maze of protagonists can be accomplished without extensive discussions -- a classic Latino approach that seems to be as much a part of the culture as language itself. Some viewers without enough background may find the multiple characters and political complexities a little hard to follow. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Xuxa Lopes, Walmor Chagas, (more)
- 1975
Sexual fantasies among middle-class Brazilians are the material out of which this black comedy has been formed. The adventures of three people are followed to a (usually) humorous or dire conclusion. In the first story, a lawyer who misuses his position for erotic gain finds one client even more determined than himself. The second story tells of a neurotic lad who cannot bring himself to remove his coat and glasses for his erotic encounters, but he is sufficiently chivalrous to leave an aged old prostitute grateful for his attentions. The last story tells a mysterious, symbolic tale of a married couple whose feuding ends in death. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Itala Nandi, Lima Duarte, (more)
- 1972
Prata Palomares is a product of the "Cinema Novo" movement in Brazil, which sought to create a truly Brazilian approach to filmmaking. In this hallucinogenic, violent film, two guerilla warriors (Itala Nandi and Renato Borghi) appear in the middle of an unknown military skirmish. Their quest is to return to military headquarters. Along the way, they see a young man drinking blood gathered from the shrine of the Bleeding Virgin; he then shoots and attempts to eat a buzzard, and then meets an incarnation of the Bleeding Virgin who is being tortured and disfigured. When they see a priest killed, one of the twosome seeks to take his place and meets the same fate. The survivor then boards a boat which will probably take him to his destination. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Revolutionaries in 16th-century Brazil come in for close study in this 1972 Brazilian/Italian film. A group of intellectuals, with the exception of a Corporal Tiradentes, these revolutionaries plotted the overthrow of the Portuguese colonial government. In a compelling scene, an informer slips into the governor's bathtub to tell him of the group's plans. The entire group was rounded up and put in prison where, Inquisition-like, they were tortured until they recanted. Only Tiradentes refused, and was killed. One of the film's ironic moments is a shot of modern Brazil officially celebrating the dedication of this lone patriot. It is ironic, because the country was under the control of an undemocratic, strict military government at the time. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
