Daniel Filho Movies
- 2008
Their lives forever changed after the car crash that no amount of preparedness could have prevented, two men living in Sao Paulo, Brazil discover that they are at the mercy of a city that never forgives. In the flash of an instant, Enios and Pedro find their lives turned upside down. Now, as they attempt to contend with their profound senses of loss and loneliness, Enios' orphaned daughter returns to her father and Pedro attempts to summon the courage that will finally allow him to let love go. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rodrigo Santoro, Leonardo Medeiros, (more)
- 2007
- PG
- Add The Year My Parents Went on Vacation to QueueAdd The Year My Parents Went on Vacation to top of Queue
A 12-year-old Brazilian boy who longs to see his team win out over Italy in the 1970 World Cup match finds his entire world turned upside down as his left-wing parents are forced into hiding and he is sent to live with his grandfather in São Paulo's Bom Retiro district. Though his country is being held in the grip of a military dictatorship and the war in Vietnam is raging abroad, young Mauro can't seem to think about anything else but the upcoming World Cup match between Brazil and Italy. If Jairzinho, Pelé, and company can just win their third World Cup title, team Brazil will earn their third star on the strip -- a feat that no other team in the history of the sport has ever managed to accomplish. When his Catholic mother and Jewish father are suddenly forced to go "on holiday," young Mauro is swept out of his middle-class existence in Minas Gerais and taken to stay with his paternal grandfather in bustling Bom Retiro. A multi-ethnic district in which Jews, Arabs, and Greeks all live side by side, Bom Retiro begins to heat up with World Cup fever as things both at home and abroad all seem to be spiraling toward disaster. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Joelsas, Germano Haiut, (more)
- 2007
A radio astrologer who has devoted her entire career to illuminating the problems of her many listeners attempts to keep her own personal issues clearly separated from those of her troubled callers in actor-turned-director Carlos Alberto Riccelli's passionate ensemble drama. Teca (Bruna Lombardi, who also penned the screenplay) is a popular radio talk show host who uses her skills as an astrologist to help the masses. Having just gotten out of a particularly intense relationship, Teca is attempting to discover her true purpose in life when she makes the acquaintance of her handsome new neighbor Gil (Malvino Salvador). Unfortunately for Teca, Gil is married, leaving the lonely astrologer with precious little company other than her estranged, ailing father Anibal (Juca de Oliveira), who has recently been admitted to a local hospital. Later, when a deranged fan named Luis (Thiago Pinheiro) commits suicide in her apartment, Teca gradually begins to grow aware of the many divergent paths people can take in life. As Teca searches out Luis' grieving girlfriend Julia (Lais Marquis) in hopes of steering the woman away from a similarly gruesome fate, long buried family secrets are gradually unearthed, the transsexual best-friend of her faithful engineer falls victim to some particularly violent bigots, and the self-mutilating Julia eventually discovers why taking the easiest way out isn't always the wisest option. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruna Lombardi, Juca De Oliveira, (more)
- 2007
A delicate young romantic from São Paulo finds her marriage and her future threatened after entering into a scandalous affair with her worldly cousin. As a teenager, Luisa was hopelessly smitten with her cousin Basílio. But now it's 1958: Luisa is all grown up and married to Jorge, a successful engineer overseeing production of the new national capital, Brasília. Together, Luisa and Jorge enjoy the good life as part of São Paulo's high-society. But it all starts to fall apart when Jorge is summoned away to Brasília, and Luisa begins spending more and more time with Basílio. With no one to keep her company at home except for her two maids Juliana and Joana, Luisa welcomes the increasingly frequent visits from her worldly cousin. Before long, the passions of Luisa's youth are reignited, and the pair is inseparable. As the neighbors begin to gossip, an embittered Juliana begins to grow increasingly resentful toward her wealthy boss. Juliana is a hard worker, and all she ever wanted out of life was to experience a little stability when it became time to retire. When Juliana discovers Basílio and Luísa's secret stash of love letters, she realizes that a generous pension may finally be within her grasp. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Brazilian filmmaker Hector Babenco directs the confrontational drama Carandiru, based on the best-selling novel by Dr. Drauzio Varella. The episodic story is set in Sao Paulo's House of Detention (referred to as Carandiru), one of Latin America's largest prison systems. The doctor (Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos) is an oncologist who arrives in the jail to test patients for HIV infection. Seeing the disease, overcrowding, and rampant circulation of drugs, the doctor comes to realize the internal power structure among the prisoners. Several narratives develop, including the attempted murder of Dagger (Milhem Cortaz), the solitary confinement of Chico (Milton Goncalves), and the romance between Lady Di (Rodrigo Santoro) and Too Bad (Gero Camilo). The doctor eventually establishes a routine and sees the prisoners as survivors, leading up to the violent conclusion: a reconstruction of the October 2, 1992, prison riot known as the Carandiru Massacre. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Luis Carlos Vasconcelos, Milhem Cortaz, (more)
Fernando Meirelles' City of God is a sweeping tale of how crime affects the poor population of Rio de Janeiro. Though the narrative skips around in time, the main focus is on Cabeleira who formed a gang called the Tender Trio. He and his best friend, Bené (Phelipe Haagensen), become crime lords over the course of a decade. When Bené is killed before he can retire, Lil' Zé attempts to take out his arch enemy, Sandro Cenoura (Matheus Nachtergaele). But Sandro and a young gangster named Mane form an alliance and begin a gang war with Lil' Zé. Amateur photographer Buscape (Alexandre Rodrigues) takes pictures of the brutal crime war, making their story famous. City of God was screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino da Hora, (more)
- 2002
Sisters Selma (Gloria Pires), Regina (Andrea Beltrao), Laura (Paloma Duarte) and Lucia (Lilia Cabral) are the main characters in Daniel Filho's The Inheritance. The women have come together upon the death of their mother. All of the women are, at the very least, quirky. Married Selma appears to be the most "together" of the group, but an attraction to the man selling her mother's apartment, and the announcement that Selma's daughter is in a cult, alters her life. Laura is struggling with her sexual identity. Regina is estranged from her musician son. The sale of their mother's apartment leads to mounting tension between the sisters. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gloria Pires, Andrea Beltrao, (more)
- 2001
This fanciful fantasy from Brazil (which was adapted from a play that previously inspired a top-rated Brazilian TV series) follows two poor but resourceful young men, Jack the Cricket (Matheus Nachtergaele) and Chico (Selton Mello), on their adventures. Looking for work, Jack and Chico get a job at a bakery, where the mean-spirited owner feeds them food so awful that when they give it to a dog, it kills the poor animal, leading the boys to fast-talk a priest into giving the dog a funeral mass. Later on down the road, shy Chico falls in love with beautiful Rosinha, whose father is the town's wealthiest citizen. While Chico is too timid to approach her, Jack is able to fool Rosinha's boyfriends into leaving town, leaving the field open for his friend. And finally, a gang of ruthless criminals invades the town and goes on a murder spree, with Jack gunned down alongside many of the town's most prominent citizens. As Chico buries his friend, Jack matches wits in the next world with the Devil (Luis Melo), persuading the Virgin Mary (Fernanda Montenegro) to put in a good word for himself and his friends to Jesus. O Auto Da Compadecida proved to be a box-office sensation in Brazil, where it has become the nation's top-grossing homegrown feature. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matheus Nachtergaele, Selton Mello, (more)
Legendary Brazilian director Carlos Diegues recasts the tragic myth of Orpheus in the shantytowns of Rio de Janeiro during Carnival. Orfeu de Conceicao is the most famous samba player in Brazil, and one of the most respected members of the neighborhood of Carioca Hill, a labyrinth of dirty streets and quickly made shacks ruthlessly controlled by drug lord Lucinho. Young Orfeu, though, lives a gilded life. He has his pick of a bevy of local beauties, children worship him, and the corrupt police will not harass him like the others in the area. During the run-up to Carnival, his world is turned upside down with the appearance of the gorgeous Euridice, who has just moved from the remote untamed hinterland of the Amazon. In spite of her indifference to samba music and her initial reluctance, the two soon fall passionately in love. Unfortunately, the violence of their surroundings threatens to overwhelm them. When Lucinho takes a liking to Euridice and challenges his former childhood friend, Orfeu is forced to endure a brutal test for his love. Orfeu was screened at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Toni Garrido, Patricia Franca, (more)
- 1988
- R
This Brazilian feature lifts a few elements from the old, oft-filmed erotic chestnut The Woman and the Puppet. Fausta (Betty Faria) is fed up by her shabby treatment at the hands of her boorish husband. She seeks out more rewarding male companionship, finding it in the form of a wealthy but lonely old man. Rather than express gratitude, Fausta (evidently getting even for her husband's nastiness) treats her elderly benefactor as rudely as possible. Rather than express disappointment, the old fellow seems turned on by this treatment; the worse she behaves, the more he does to make her happy! Directed by Bruno Barreto of Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands fame, Story of Fausta was completed in 1988, but not generally released until 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Faria, Daniel Filho, (more)
- 1987
- R
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
- Starring:
- Guilherme Fontes, Milton Goncalves, (more)
Quilombo de Palmares was a real-life democratic society, created in Brazil in the 17th century. This incredibly elaborate (and surprisingly little-known) film traces the origins of Quilombo, which began as a community of freed slaves. The colony becomes a safe harbor for other outcasts of the world, including Indians and Jews. Ganga Zumba (Toni Tornado) becomes president of Quilombo, the first freely elected leader in the Western Hemisphere. Naturally, the ruling Portuguese want to subjugate Zumba and his followers, but the Quilombians are ready for their would-be oppressors. The end of this Brave New World is not pleasant, but the followers of Zumba and his ideals take to the hills, where they honor his memory to this day. Writer/director Carlos Diegues takes every available opportunity to compare the rise and fall of Quilombo with the state of affairs in modern-day Brazil. Still, the film is refreshingly free of self-righteous oratory, and serves as an excellent introduction to anyone intrigued by the political history of South America. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antonio Pompeo, Zeze Motta, (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)
- 1981
Based on a play by Nelson Rodrigues, the Kiss turns like a whirlwind around one innocent act: after an accident, a dying man is kissed by another man, out of compassion -- but this unusual gesture violates an ingrained social taboo that colors everyone's perception of what exactly happened. The man, Arandir Tarcisio Meira is hauled off to prison by corrupt police, and while he remains incarcerated, a journalist picks up the story and becomes obsessed with showing him up as a homosexual. The journalist himself is hardly a paradigm of mental stability, being tormented by the memory of how he had let his own son drown without doing anything to help him. His attacks ruin Arandir's life and when he finally gets out of prison, there is almost nowhere to turn. Arandir's father-in-law, with his own demons driving him to action, perceives him as the cause of his problems, and sees him as a way to exorcise his own inner torment. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tarcisio Meira, Ney Latorraca, (more)
- 1970
This three-part film begins with "The Accident," in which a pilot is hopsitalized after a plane crash. Inquiring about his colleauges, he is informed he was alone at the time of the crash. He leaves the hopspital and returns to find the building is now a depository. The confused man is told there never was a hopital at the location. In "He, She And The Dead", a woman murders her husband after tracking him down. Part three is "The Reimplantation." A philandering black Romeo receives the unkindest cut of all from his jealous, knife toting Cacasian girlfriend. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- 1969
This two-part comedy from Brazil concerns a man whose own daughter catches him being unfaithful to his wife. She walks in on her father and the maid, but he swears to her he will never do it again. The man, a tour guide by trade, is constantly tempted on the job by a bevy of beautiful women. He can't resist the temptation. In part two, a beggar is promised a hot dog if he approaches and talks to a beautiful woman. The woman takes a liking to the poor man, and his friends take up a collection so he can have a dream date for a few hours. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- 1962
An adult tale that has ample nudity and a few sexual encounters, this drama by director Ruy Guerra centers around a wealthy lothario who has never done a moment's work in his life -- and is suddenly faced with poverty. Or to be more precise, the rich father who supports him may lose all his income. Rather than getting a job, the playboy hunts up an accomplice who will help him out with a blackmail scheme. He plans on photographing his uncle's mistress in the nude, and though it works and he gets the photos, everything falls through and they opt for finding another target, the uncle's daughter. These plot angles allow for ample nude scenes on the beach and introduce both one steamy sexual encounter and one attempted rape. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jose Valadao, Daniel Filho, (more)
