Flavio Bauraqui Movies
- 2007
Romeo and Juliet gets a new retelling with the slum of Brazil as a backdrop in this musical from writer and director Lucia Murat. Dudu (Babu Santana) is the leader of a street gang who rule a ragged shantytown on the bad side of Rio de Janeiro. Dudu's nemesis is Be (Jefchander Lucas), the leader of a rival gang who wants to take over his turf. But Be has a beautiful cousin, Analidia (Cristina Lago), who has stolen the heart of Dudu's brother, Jonatha (Vinicius D'Black). Jonatha deeply loves Analidia in return, and their mutual friend Fernanda (Marisa Orth), provides them a neutral meeting place at her dance school. But it soon becomes clear that there is too much bad blood between their families for the young lovers to stay together without a fight. Mare, Nossa Historia de Amor (aka Another Love Story) was an official entry at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cristina Lago, Vinicius D'Black, (more)
- 2006
Ricardo Elias' feature The 12 Labors embodies a counterpoint between the strains of ancient Greek myth and the classic Brazilian movies that depict, grittily and uncompromisingly, the rules and risks of street life in Rio and São Paulo (such as Pixote and City of God). The film's title refers to the 12 labors of Heracles, a cognomen shared by Elias' central character; both figures personify human pathos. The Heracles of the picture (Sidney Santiago) is an 18-year-old resident of a Brazilian reformatory, who gets released from that institution and immediately takes a job as a motorcycle courier through the streets of São Paulo -- one of several hundred thousand young men with that assignment. Along his initial route, he confronts a dozen obstacles of increasing size and intensity, which parallel the challenges faced by his Greek counterpart -- and encounters unexpected assistance from a series of characters who turn up to lend a hand, like the deities of old. Despite its inherent difficulties, the journey hones, develops, and strengthens Heracles' sense of character and self-worth. When coupled with a third-person voice-over that runs throughout the picture, the film spirals toward the conclusion that Heracles may find some redemption via his own inherent artistic ability and seemingly limitless imaginative capacity -- if he can only survive the concrete threats posed by street life. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sidney Santiago, Flavio Bauraqui, (more)
A woman who has recently returned to her hometown village in remote, northeastern Brazil after two years of living in São Paolo refuses to allow the actions of others to dictate her fate as she keeps her eyes towards new horizons in director Karim Aïnouz's follow-up to his dynamic feature debut Madame Satã. Hermilla (Hermilla Guedes) is a single mother living a marginal existence in modern day São Paolo. Upon returning to the village in which she was raised to await the arrival of her husband, Hermilla longs for the day that her family will become whole. Her hopes gradually fade, however, when it becomes painfully obvious to Hermilla that both she and her newborn son have been abandoned. Secrets are scarce in a village such as Hermilla's, and when word gets out about her dire situation the optimism of the once hopeful mother is quickly corroded by feelings of failure and humiliation. Though she briefly rekindles a relationship with former boyfriend João Miguel (João Miguel), Hermilla's painful realization that there is no returning to the past, coupled with an enlightening conversation with thoughtful prostitute Georgina (Georgina Castro), prods the troubled mother into devising a foolproof plan to finally break free of her troubled past. After adopting the name Suely as a means of both distancing herself from her family and preparing herself for the bold journey that lies ahead, the newly transformed Hermilla determines to raffle off a most unconventional prize to finance her flight into the future. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hermila Guedes, Maria Menezes, (more)
- 2006
A noxious stench and a perfect derriere send the mind of a perverse pawn shop proprietor spinning into insanity in a darkly humorous tale of mental malaise from director Heitor Dhalia. Lourenço takes perverse pleasure in profiting from the misfortune of his fellow man. A pawn shop owner who relishes in the power that he holds over the desperate visitors to his modest store, Lourenço becomes fixated on a smell that seems to be coming from the bathroom drain and proves virtually impossible to eradicate. Another of Lourenço's strange obsessions is the behind of a waitress who works in a nearby restaurant. Though he hates the food she serves and can't even remember her name as hard as he tries, Lourenço's fixation on the waitress' shapely buttocks proves as difficult to shake as the repulsive smell which seems to have worked it's way into his very pores. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Selton Mello, Paula Braun, (more)
- 2005
An retired police precinct chief from Copacabana finds his fate taking an unsettling turn after becoming the main suspect in the death of his lover - a prominent Rio de Janeiro streetwalker - in director Jose Joffily's tense underworld thriller. Vieira used be a high profile law enforcer, but these days he spends most of his time in the company of lusty prostitute Magali. When Magali is murdered, the authorities quickly shift their suspicions to Vieira and crooked cop Montiero begins blackmailing the former precinct chief. Now, as Vieira faces crooked cops on one side and murderous thugs on the other, he finds a last chance at happiness in the form of the beautiful Flor. But on the streets of Rio love and death can go hand in hand, and the man who used to enforce the law will now find himself forced to take a violent stance against it. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Flavio Bauraqui, Isaac Bernat, (more)
A lifelong friendship between two men forces them to examine how different their lives have become, and how different their perceptions of the world around them are, in this drama from filmmaker Lúcia Murat. Miguel and Jorge first met when they were children growing up in Brazil in the late '50s; Miguel's dad was a passionate music fan who was interested in the work of Jorge's father, a gifted samba composer and musician. While Miguel and Jorge became fast friends, as they grew older the fact that Miguel came from a wealthy white family while Jorge's parents were black and significantly less privileged began to make a greater impact in their lives, and as the two men move into middle age, Miguel (Werner Schüneman) is a successful politician and Jorge (Antonio Pompeo) is a high-level drug dealer who still controls street traffic from his prison. Miguel approaches his old friend asking for help with a proposal that would combat gang violence in Brazil's ghettoes, but Jorge is puzzled by the naïveté of his plan; meanwhile, Miguel and Jorge's worlds begin to overlap in another way when Miguel's teenaged daughter (Maria Flor) begins hanging out with dealers from Jorge's crew. Quase Dois Irmãos (aka Almost Brothers) received its North American premiere at the 2004 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Werner Schünemann, Antonio Pompeo, (more)
João Francisco dos Santos was a figure of no small infamy in Brazil during the 1930s -- he was a flamboyantly gay drag performer who was also a notorious criminal, thoroughly unashamed of his sexual orientation and willing to defend himself with deadly force if the situation demanded. Writer and director Karim Ainouz brings dos Santos' story to the screen in this vibrant drama seasoned with music and dance. A tall and physically imposing man, dos Santos (played by Lázaro Ramos) grew up poor on the streets of Brazil; and once he reached adulthood, he shared a home in one of Rio de Janeiro's less picturesque neighborhoods with a handful of friends, including Laurita (Marcelia Cartaxo), a streetwalker; her baby daughter; Taboo (Flavio Bauraqui), a nightclub performer who sometimes turned tricks for extra cash; and Renatinho (Felippe Marques), one of dos Santos' lovers. After landing a job at a nightspot called The Blue Danube, dos Santos grew fascinated with the elaborate costumes and choreography of the stage shows, and became a singer and dancer at the club. However, when the management declined to pay him, dos Santos took matters into his own hands and demanded his salary at knifepoint, leading to the first of many stays behind bars. Upon his release, dos Santos pledged to make his name as a cross-dressing entertainer, though his fiery temper made taking advantage of him a bad idea. Madame Satã was screened as part of the "Un Certain Regard" series at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lazaro Ramos, Marcelia Cartaxo, (more)
