Otavio Augusto Movies

Eroticism melds with power in director Julio Bressane's lyrical portrait of the last Queen of Egypt. Alessandra Negrini stars as the irresistible ruler who held Roman leaders in the palm of her hand with the sheer power of sensuality, with Miguel Falabella and Bruno Garcia assuming the roles of Julio Cesar and Marco Antonio respectively. ~ Jason Buchanan, 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

Every country no doubt has its golden youths who die before they have had a chance to come to full flower and who leave a romantic legend behind them. In the U.S., one of these was James Dean. In Brazil, the fans of the actress Leila Diniz were similarly bereft when she died in the late 1960s. This biographical drama, directed and written by one of her close friends, and produced by a relative, tells the story of a very modern woman who broke new social ground in the conservative society of Brazil. Many of the people involved with the unconventional actress in real life play themselves in this film. The mood of the times are evoked: it was an era when a repressive military dictatorship governed the country, but the ideas and styles of beat poetry and aspirations for social change were fermenting among the young. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The antagonism portrayed in this explosive black comedy makes a dysfunctional family seem like the Brady bunch. Director Ana Carolina has her leads play it straight, allowing the absurdity of their situations to speak for itself. Felicidade (Norma Benguel) has just slashed her husband with a razor blade in a violent argument, and she and her offensive daughter (Cristina Pereira) run away together. They are caught by Orlande (Otavio Augusto) who was sent out after them by the injured husband. Instead of bringing them back, Orlande takes off with them and a series of misadventures results. Long periods of dialogue are well-written and maintain interest in this maladjusted trio. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide