Joao Ubaldo Ribeiro Movies
Directed by Carlos Diegues, Deus é Brasileiro (God Is Brazilian) is based on author Joao Ubaldo Ribeiro's short story The Saint Who Didn't Believe in God. The plot centers around Taoca (Wagner Moura), a part-time fisherman and petty con artist, and a man who claims he is God (Antonio Fagundes). Taoca initially disbelieves the man's heavenly origins when he finds him straddling a buoy several miles out to sea, though he becomes convinced after witnessing some quite miraculous demonstrations. It turns out that God has decided to take a break from his eternity of presiding over humankind and is actively seeking a temp to take over the position. With Taoca by his side, God traverses the nation in hopes of finding someone saintly enough for the job. Eventually, they comes across a young man with all the right credentials with the exception of one, glaring trait -- he doubts the very existence of a higher power. Paloma Duarte makes an appearance as a tough-talking love interest for Taoca, while Bruce Gomlevsky, Stepan Nercessian, Hugo Carvana, Chico de Assis, and Thiago Faria are also featured. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antonio Fagundes, Paloma Duarte, (more)
- 2003
Brazilian filmmakers Joao Jardim and Walter Carvalho ponder the old adage "the eyes are the windows to the soul" as they explore vision and perception in their 2002 documentary A Janela Da Alma (Window of the Soul). Beginning with an interview with Brazilian jazz musician Hermeto Pascoal, Carvalho and Jardim attempt to make sense of how the musician perceives his world with a pair of impaired eyes that appear to simultaneously look in different directions. From there, the Brazilian co-directors interview a number of famous subjects with varying degrees of ocular health, ranging from the non-vision impaired director Wim Wenders to blind photographer Evgen Bavcar, while both the filmmakers and the interview subjects ponder how their lives and existences would be different had their abilities or inabilities to see the world around them been different. Released in Brazil in the summer of 2002 to mixed reviews, A Janela Da Alma was screened at a number of film festivals around the world in late 2002 into early 2003. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Evgen Bavcar, Antonio Cicero, (more)
- 2001
A middle-aged white man recalls the summer some 35 years ago during which he lost his innocence in director Fernando Vendrell's 2002 coming-of-age drama Light Drops. Visiting an old abandoned settlement in Mozambique that he and his family lived in during the 1950s, Rui Pedro (Luis Sarmento) remembers another homecoming he had at this same spot when he was 14. Via flashback, a young Rui (Filipe Carvalho) rejoins the community with joy as he reconnects with his white and African friends. Trouble comes soon afterwards in the form of two white visitors -- a relative of Rui's from South Africa and an army officer. The relative begins sowing the seeds of discontent by having an affair with Rui's family's maid, Ana (Alexandra Antunes), a very close friend of Rui's who had just married another domestic in the Pedro household. Not long after, her new husband and the tribe learn of her infidelity and exact the severe punishment prescribed by tribal law. Meanwhile, the army officer institutes strict guidelines governing the farming practices of the region, making it virtually impossible for any of the indigenous peoples of the region to survive. As rebellion looms over the countryside, Rui realizes his own father is complicit in exploiting the natives and is forced to choose sides in the oncoming battle between the settlers and the natives. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Luis Sarmento, Filipe Carvalho, (more)
Based on a popular Brazilian novel by Jorge Amado, this lively drama slyly comments upon Brazilian society while telling a tale of reconciliation and subtle revenge had at the hands of the fast-living titular character, a woman who 26 years before was banished from her remote home village of Sant'Ana do Agreste for promiscuity. Cloaked in mystery, she returns home from Sao Paulo. The residents who welcome her know that she is recently widowed from a wealthy man and that she has been sending money to the family, but they know nothing else. The still fantastic looking Tieta is accompanied by her step-daughter Leonora. Still jealous, Tieta's wallflower sister Perptua, who is also a widow, secretly conspires with their father to learn the truth about the scandalous Tieta who is busy stirring up erotic trouble amongst the town's most pious hypocrites. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Based on a novel by Joao Ubaldo Ribeiro, this film chronicles the determination of a certain Sargeant Getulio (Lima Duarte) to bring a political prisoner from a local village into the capital of the province. The setting is the 1940s in the northeastern area of Brazil, and the sparring between two political parties at the time serves as a backdrop for the story. Although the film was completed in 1978, director Hermano Penna waited five years to release it -- to a very warm reception. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lima Duarte
