Jorge Doria Movies

A cinematic study of the bleak realities of modern day Brazil, O Homen do Ano (aka Man of the Year) follows the brooding Máiquel (Murilo Benicio) as he discovers that the smallest changes in life can make the biggest differences. Jobless and insecure to the point where he can't even face himself in the mirror, a terrified Máiquel enters a salon to have his hair died platinum blond after losing a soccer bet to a friend. His new look supplying an unexpected jolt of confidence, Máiquel asks Cledir (Claudia Abreu), the salon employee who died his hair, to join him at the bar in celebration. Taunted by local bully Suel upon arrival at the bar, Máiquel decides to settle the matter by purchasing a rifle and shooting down the loudmouthed Suel in the presence of Suel's young girlfriend (Natalia Lage). Unexpectedly hailed as a hero by his neighbors and the police, Suel's girlfriend subsequently approaches Máiquel and claims that since he killed Suel, it is now Miquel's responsibility to care for her. Simultaneously learning that Cledir is pregnant and anticipating a marriage proposal, Miquel's newfound reputation soon catches up to him as the dubious requests of influential locals begin to take their toll on him. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This melodrama about adultery, jealousy, and power struggles inside and outside a dysfunctional family was adapted from the play of the same name by Nelson Rodriguez. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This light musical comedy finds a young girl rebelling against her parents and society when she goes off to college. Tania (Adriana Prieto) is the idealistic student who eventually loses her virginity to her playboy paramour. After he meets the family, she leaves him standing at the altar, refusing to marry the man. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama, an amoral woman named Lollipop becomes insanely jealous when the cousin she has lusted after since childhood announces his impending nuptials. She decides then and there that she will seduce him. She succeeds and then later tells him that she is pregnant. This causes the fellow to break off his engagement. Trouble ensues when the tart's father refuses to allow her to marry her cousin and arranges for an abortion. The girl decides to run off with the cousin. Again her father intervenes and tells them the truth: Her cousin is really his illegitimate son. The poor boy is appalled at having committed incest and promptly kills himself. The girl's father, filled with guilt, does the same. The girl suddenly finds herself alone. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

1962 is known as the year of Cinema Novo -- the year that the Brazilian film movement broke. Roberto Farias was the author of an influential essay that laid the groundwork for the movement's profound economic model and later became the head of Brazil's national film distribution agency Embrafilme. As a director, Farias produced a number of compelling films in the Cinema Novo style -- loose, edgy editing coupled with stories that reveal the contradictions of Brazil's society. Train Robbery Confidential takes the stock plot of a train robbery a turns it to serve the ends of social commentary. Tiao Medonho is an easygoing gang leader with big ambitions but few plans. After stumbling upon a group of fellow petty criminals, they let Tiao in on their plot to rob a mail train carrying a month's worth of pay out to Brazil's rural areas. The robbery comes off without a hitch and the group splits up each to live the lux life. It doesn't last, however, (when does it ever?) and the police begin to zero in on Medonho. At the film's climax, his partners execute a kind of justice which serves as a revolutionary allegory and as a critique of a society that drives its poorer members to crime. ~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide