Betty Faria Movies

Hopeless romantics comes in all ages, shapes and sizes in this bittersweet comedy drama from Brazilian filmmaker Lais Bodanzky. Chega de Saudade is set in a decaying dance hall in Sao Paulo, where a steady stream of regular customers keep the place in business; some are young, but most are well into middle age if not older. Alice (Tônia Carrero) meets Alvaro (Leonardo Villar) at the dance hall, and while neither is as young as they once were, they haven't given up on the possibility of discovering true love. Marici (Cássia Kiss) and Eudes (Stepan Nercessian) bump into one another on the train en route to the dance hall, and while they both planned on going elsewhere before the end of the night, it isn't long before the decide to stick around. Marici also strikes up a friendship with Bel (Maria Flower), who came to dance but has become infatuated with the club's soundman, Marquinhos (Pablo Vilhena). However, Eudes also has his eye on Bel, much to Marici's chagrin. And Elza (Betty Faria) and her friend Nice (Mirian Mehler) have shown up at the dance hall in hopes the men of their dreams might just stop by. Chega de Saudade (aka The Ballroom) received its North American premiere at the 2009 Miami International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

While driving his cab one evening, Daniel (Jose Mayer) is set upon by two robbers. He succeeds in driving them off, killing them in the process. It is somehow entirely understandable that he doesn't inform the police of this incident, but merely changes his drive shift to the daytime. He is supporting a wife and son, and there is no telling what the authorities would make of the incident. Later, Daniel's wife (Christiane Torloni) gets chosen as an extra when location shots are being filmed for a popular soap opera. This leads to her eventually becoming a television star herself - and leaving her husband and son in the process. In this melodrama, Daniel decides he is not going to bear this insult quietly, and plots an appropriate revenge. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this highly stylized Brazilian drama a sax player fondly remembers one wonderful night spent with his life's love and decides to find her again. He embarks upon a quest through the wild streets of Rio to find her. Along the way he meets an assortment of odd urban underworld characters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This drama is an adaptation of a 1935 novel by Jorge Amado. Baldo is a black man from the wrong side of the tracks whose lifetime occupations keep changing. He works at being a servant, thief, boxer, ne'er-do-well, circus performer, and finally a strike organizer. Throughout this daunting array of activities, he carries a torch for a fair-haired beauty from the opposite side of the tracks whose own life changes from pampered to impoverished, and from impoverished to drug-ridden. She loves Baldo, but their destinies never seem to cross at the right place or the right time. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Bye Bye Brazil, the gifted director Carlos Diegues' follow-up to his 1978 Xica da Silva, became one of the most popular and fiscally successful imports of late '70s and early '80s South American cinema. Bye Bye is a muted and low-key ensemble drama about a shabby circus crawling from small town to small town through the Brazilian backwaters. As the curtain rises before us, the circus claims three participants: the slightly scary, medicine-show-like leader, Lorde Cigano (Jose Wilker), who sports a carnival-like 19th century mustache and cape, and keeps the audience mesmerized with magic tricks; the erotically charged, raven-haired dancer Salome (Betty Faria), "Queen of the Rumba"; and the deaf-mute strongman Swallow, who doubles as a fire breather. The troupe quickly adds yet another member shortly after the story begins: the strapping young accordion player Cico (Fabio Junior). He signs on with the circus when he catches sight of Salome, and is thus lost to his expectant wife, Dasdo (Zaira Zambelli) forever -- despite his obligation to cart the missus along with the troupe. The preponderance of the drama explores the shifting relationships between the circus members over the course of their journeys; it also reveals how endangered the troupe has become, both by the inability of locals to pay (the performers accept melons and other edible goods as recompense) and by competing entertainments such as television. These endangerments will ultimately force Cigano and co. beyond desperation -- to the point of ending the circus altogether and prostituting out Salome and Dasdo, just to turn a buck. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide