Chico Buarque Movies

As adapted from Chico Buarque de Hollanda's 2003 novel of the same title, this feature marks a historical first: the premier co-production between Hungary and Brazil. The drama tells of a belletrist named José Costa (Leonardo Medeiros), residing in Brazil with his wife and son, who spends his days ghost-writing bestsellers. During a one-day trip to Hungary, he grows completely entranced by the country and pines for it, even after a lengthy return to Brazil. Finally, when José authors a deadly boring biography of a German businessman, and his wife heaps praise onto the businessman for the text (ignoring her husband altogether), José reaches the last straw. He leaves his family and flies back to Hungary sans hesitation, to begin another life, learn the Hungarian language, and study Hungarian culture. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A Brazilian astrophysicist who has spent most of his adult life in America returns to his home country to accept a prestigious government award and come to terms with his troubled past after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Upon returning to Brazil, Antonio (Jose Wilker) accepts his award and sets out to visit his adoptive father while attempting to find out the identity of his biological mother. Soon after being taken under the wing of street smart, dope dealing urchin Mosca (Sergio Malheiros) comes into contact with the wise Zeze (Lea Garcia). Fifty years ago the compassionate Zeze had provided Mosca's long lost mother with a helping hand in her most desperate hour, and now she has the opportunity to bring it all full circle by doing the same for the woman's son. As Mosca seeks out the company of the sensual Luciana (Tais Araujo), the ghost of a teenage girl (Anna Sophia Folch) flutters in the corner of his vision hinting that death can come calling at any time. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In a storyline that brings together an odd assortment of characters, director, co-scripter, and editor Jacques Rozier has fashioned some humorous segments in this New Wave-influenced creation. Two ticket inspectors, Le Garrec and Pontoiseau (Bernard Menez and Luis Rego), are working the Maine-Ocean train to Brittany when they come across a Brazilian samba queen (Rosa-Maria Gomez) who defies all attempts at communication. Later on, a female attorney on the train is shown in court as she and her client, a sailor charged with assault, twist their tongues around a defense and decisively lose their battle with the French language. Circumstances conspire to bring the train conductors and the samba queen, among others, together on an island off the Brittany coast, where a dance rehearsal gets underway with disastrous results for one of the conductors. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This melodrama about adultery, jealousy, and power struggles inside and outside a dysfunctional family was adapted from the play of the same name by Nelson Rodriguez. ~ 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

As the players in this dark drama move across the screen, they symbolize aspects of the human psyche and society that force the viewer to judge them at a certain distance. Particularly jarring is the saga of a young child who was born out of an incestuous relationship and is kept locked up and alone. The child cries constantly, and in a gesture that defies human feelings, the woman of the title (Jeanne Moreau) decides to end the child's misery. This film was originally released in Brazil in 1975, and later in the U.S. -- it certainly is not for all types of viewers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide