Wagner Moura Movies
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- Starring:
- Wagner Moura
- 2010
- NR
Brazil's toughest cop is out to stop some bad men in blue uniforms in this sequel to Jose Padilha's international hit Tropa de Elite (aka Elite Squad). Capt. Nascimento (Wagner Moura) is the leader of Rio de Janeiro's BOPA Squad, a special police battalion designed to deal with critical situations. When a riot in a prison turns into a standoff between Nascimento and Fraga (Irandhir Santos), a left-wing activist married to Nascimento's ex-wife, things take a turn for the worse and Nascimento's superiors re-evaluate his position with the BOPA. Rather than fire him, Nascimento is transferred to an intelligence gathering team, and he begins compiling evidence against Brazil's top drug lords. However, it turns out that criminals aren't Nascimento's only enemies; Col. Fabio (Milhem Cortaz), a high-ranking member of the military, is also running a drug-trafficking ring on the side, and Nascimento quickly learns just how corrupt Brazil's military and government officials really are. Soon Nascimento and his crew set out to eliminate the bad apples in power with the same ruthlessness they showed the criminals in the private sector. Tropa de Elite: O Inimigo Agora e Outro (aka Elite Squad: The Enemy Within and Elite Squad 2) was an official selection at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Wagner Moura, André Ramiro, (more)
For decades, the South American metropolis of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has clocked in as staggeringly lethal. Its violence-scarred and blood-strewn ghettos (or "favelas") are regularly patrolled by crazed drug gangs whose open-fire battles with police often spread out onto the main thoroughfares and turn ordinary civilians into casualties. In response, the Brazilian government formed a crack paramilitary force known as the BOPE (Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais, or Special Police Operations Battalion) to take matters into its own hands. Now, director José Padilha's social-consciousness drama Tropa de Elite carries viewers inside of BOPE for a scathing indictment of the cycle of violence that permeates Brazilian society, scripted by 12-year-plus BOPE veteran Rodrigo Pimentel. Wagner Moura (Hector Babenco's Carandiru) stars as Captain Nascimento, the leader of a BOPE unit who is seriously considering retirement in the face of his impending fatherhood. In an effort to pick his successor, he looks to two younger recruits, part-time law student André Matias (André Ramiro) and the bellicose hood Neto (Caio Junqueira) -- but soon recognizes that these naïve men will need to seriously mature before one can take the reins. Inevitably, the events that each encounters on the roughshod Brazilian streets -- particularly a trip to clean up some of the neighborhoods in anticipation of the pope's visit -- begin to shape and redefine them in ways that neither can even begin to anticipate. Meanwhile, BOPE grapples with its own internal problems -- particularly the extreme corruption and underhandedness of each squad leader, whose sideline activities range from resupplying weapons to gangs to the racketeering of strip clubs. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Wagner Moura, André Ramiro, (more)
A simple cruise turns into a jealous battle for the affections of a sultry prostitute as the co-owners of a small cargo boat make their way down the Brazilian coastline in director Sergio Machado's stylish and sultry erotic drama. Deco (Lazaro Ramos) and Naldinho (Wagner Moura) are best friends who make their living by renting out their modest cargo boat. Approached by 20-year-old prostitute Karinna (Alice Braga) for a ride down the coast, the trio sets out into the waters with both Deco and Naldinho employing her professional services throughout the course of the journey. After a fateful knife fight at a Cachoeira cockfight leaves Naldinho struggling for his life, Deco finds himself slowly falling for Karinna as his badly wounded friend battles back from the brink of death. Though Karinna's relationship with Deco becomes increasingly intimate during Naldinho's convalescence, it doesn't take long for the kindly prostitute to realize that Deco isn't the only one with intentions of claiming her as his own. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alice Braga, Lazaro Ramos, (more)
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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Antonio Fagundes, Paloma Duarte, (more)
A father desperate to improve his family's circumstances takes them on an unusual journey in this drama from Brazil. Romão (Wagner Moura) is a truck driver who has fallen on hard times; illiterate and unable to find work at a living wage, Romão and his wife, Rose (Cláudia Abreu), decide to leave the Northwestern provinces of Brazil and head east for Rio de Janeiro, which is 2,000 miles away. With no vehicle at their disposal, Romão, Rose, and their five children make the journey on bicycles. Along the way, they face physical and emotional hardship and bear witness to the many ways in which the nation they knew is changing. Romão also finds himself coming to a crossroads with his oldest son, Antônio (Ravi Ramos Lacerda), a teenager who has become openly defiant of his parents. O Caminho das Nuvens (aka The Middle of the World) was the first dramatic feature from documentary filmmaker Vincente Amorim. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Wagner Moura, Cláudia Abreu, (more)
Brazilian filmmaker Aluizio Abranches, who garnered international attention with his debut feature Um Copo de Colera, directed this audacious and idiosyncratic crime thriller. When she was a young woman, Filomena Capadocio (Marieta Severo) had pledged to marry Firmino Santos Guerra (Carlos Vereza), but she opted to call off the engagement and instead wed Borges Capadscio, one of his greatest enemies. An angry Santos Guerra swore to someday take vengeance against Filomena, but waited thirty years to make good on his promise, when arranged for the cold-blooded murder of Filomena's husband and two sons. Distraught, Filomena brings together her three daughters -- Maria Pia (Luiza Mariani, Maria Rosa (Maria Luisa Mendonca) and Maria Francesca (Julia Lemmertz) - and tells them of her plan to avenge these deaths of her men. Each of the sisters is given the name of a different hired killer, and each is to arrange for the death of one of the men responsible for the slayings. Maria Pia has to free Jesuino Cruz (Wagner Moura) from jail so he can perform the hit, Maria Rosa must convince a usually honest cop (Tuca Andrada) to turn to the wrong side of the law, and Maria Francesca has the assignment of tracking down the crazed Ze des Cobras (Enrique Diaz), who likes to feast on snakes. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marieta Severo, Julia Lemmertz, (more)
A young man is forced to choose between family tradition and his own dreams and desires in this drama from Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles. In 1910 in a remote farming community, two families, the Breveses and the Ferreiras, both of whom earn their living growing sugar cane, have been squabbling over the ownership of a piece of land for years. The disagreement turned violent some time back, and after the first shot was fired and blood was spilled, the other family insisted upon killing the gunman as a matter of honor. The second shooter was then killed for the same reason, and ever since the two clans have been trading off murders in the name of familial honor and justice. The Breveses, who are a much smaller family, have been suffering a great deal more than their rivals thanks to this feud; a steady drop in sugar prices has also left the family with little but their pride. When Inácio, the first-born son of the Breves family, is shot down, his father (José Dumont) orders his next-oldest son, Tonho (Rodrigo Santoro), to kill one of the Ferreira boys after the traditional month-long waiting period. Tonho finds himself questioning the wisdom of this bloody rivalry, and he ponders his fate while spending time with his younger brother (Ravi Ramos Lacerda), whom his parents never bothered to name. As Tonho ponders his fate, a small traveling circus comes to town; Tonho and his brother are soon caught in the spell of Clara (Flavia Marco Antonio), a beautiful circus performer who befriends the young boy and nicknames him Pacu, while Tonho finds himself falling in love with her, and longing to travel the country at her side. Abril Despedacado won the Little Golden Lion award at the 2001 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- José Dumont, Rodrigo Santoro, (more)
Love, sex, and food combine in this sensuous romantic comedy. Isabella (Penelope Cruz) is a master chef who suffers from severe motion sickness, requiring her to be in control of her movements at all times. This need extends to the bedroom, but her husband Tonino (Murilo Benicio), who owns the restaurant where she works, doesn't like to make love in the fashion suggested by the title. This is hardly the only thing about their relationship that she finds stifling, and when Isabella discovers Tonino in bed with another woman, she leaves for America, where with the help of cross-dressing friend "Monica" (Harold Perrineau Jr.), she becomes a star as the host of a TV cooking show, Passion Foods Live. Woman on Top was the first American film from Venezuelan director Fina Torres. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Penélope Cruz, Murilo Benicio, (more)
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