Leopoldo Serran Movies
- 2000
Alberto Graca directs this thriller about drugs and gangsters. A group of drug couriers are brutally gunned down, body parts and gore flying in the air, by their warlord boss. The survivors vow vengeance. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Herson Capri, Nelson Pereira dos Santos, (more)
Bruno Barreto returned to his native Brazil after a ten-year absence to direct this fact-based political thriller that was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Pedro Cardoso stars as Rio de Janeiro journalist Fernando Gabeira, who decides with his friend Cesar (Selton Mello) to take up arms with a radical leftist organization, MR-8, in 1969. The revolutionaries, who include the tough-talking and beautiful Maria (Fernanda Torres), are fighting to overthrow Brazil's brutal military government through civil unrest and guerilla tactics. Their first action, the robbery of a bank, is successful, although one group member is captured and tortured by Henrique (Marco Ricca), a secret service agent plagued by his conscience. As a follow-up to the heist, the MR-8 members kidnap the U.S. ambassador to Brazil, Charles Burke Elbrick (Alan Arkin). During four days of captivity, however, the kidnappers discover that their prisoner is a good-hearted man of conscience, causing Fernando to become increasingly uneasy about the group's plan to kill Elbrick if a demand for the release of political prisoners goes unheeded. O Que E Isso, Companheiro? (1997) was based on Gabeira's book of the same name but was released in the U.S. under the title Four Days in September. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Arkin
- 1995
This Brazilian story is set in 1910 in a southern rural community populated by Italian immigrants. There average-looking but hard-working Angelo, a peasant, marries free-spirited and lovely Teresa. After the wedding he goes into business with the handsome Massimo. Massimo's wife is the plain but good-hearted Pierina. Their grain business grows into a major success and as they begin raising families, Massimo and Teresa find themselves inexorably drawn to each other. They end up having an affair and abandoning their less beautiful spouses. Fortunately, the two abandoned spouses discover that they too have fallen in love. The whole sinful situation becomes a thorn in the disapproving parish priest's side, and he threatens to destroy their business. But the business continues flourishing and soon both couples begin bearing more children. Happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1989
The Brazilian Faca de Dois Gumes stars Paulo Jose as a cuckolded husband. When he can stand no more humiliation, Jose kills both his wife and her lover. It is to be expected that Jose would run afoul of the law for this act of violence. But what Jose never suspected was that the man he killed had criminal connections, meaning that now he's been targeted by the crooks as well. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paulo José, Marieta Severo, (more)
- 1983
Gabriela was based on Jorge Armado's novel Gabriela, Clove and Cinammon, which also served as the source of a typically steamy Brazilian TV soap opera. Set in 1925 (when the novel was first published), the film stars Marcello Mastrioanni as Nacib, a bartender in the Bahian village of Parati. When a drought descends upon the surrounding countryside, slovenly-but-sexy Gabriela (Sonja Braga) wanders into Parati with some friends and relatives. Immediately entranced by Gabriela's earthy sensuality, Nacib hires her as a cook and potential lover. Jealous of the attentions paid to Gabriela by the local menfolk, Nacib decides to marry her, then orders her to dress and behave in a more prudish fashion. But Gabriela can't help straying sexually, and as consequence it is Nacib who is forced to undergo the film's major character transformation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sonia Braga, Marcello Mastroianni, (more)
- 1979
When a wealthy Rio socialite takes a poor lad away from the slums to be her boy-toy, the result, far from being a Cinderella story, is a tragedy. The story is based on a novel by Carlos Diegues and Antonio Pitanga. Director Antonio Pitanga co-wrote the novel, produced, directed, wrote the screenplay, and plays the lead in this well-received Brazilian film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norma Bengell, Antonio Pitanga, (more)
- 1979
In this Brazilian film, an unlikely couple fall in love amid the violence of the sexual underworld. Sandra, the daughter of a police detective, is a stripper. She meets Toninho when he comes to her apartment hoping to discover a photograph which shows Toninho in the same picture with his lover, Sandra's roommate, a transvestite who committed suicide. The two of them experience love at first sight, and have a torrid affair. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paulo Gracindo, Cristina Ache, (more)
- 1969
A cynical Rio playboy lives with his parents and wishes for the good life. He vows never to end up like his middle-class parents. His mother spends her time as an immaculate homemaker while his father chases the women who work for him in his downtown office. The playboy and his friends cruise the bars at night, swearing at strangers and complaining about their lives while doing nothing to improve their situation. The reveler dreams of fast cars, opulent lodgings complete with two swimming pools, and his choice of beautiful women. He takes comfort in the arms of a lonely older woman who provides him with the things he desires. Both gain an understanding of their loneliness and hopes for the future in this comedic drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Odette Lara, Paulo Gracindo, (more)
- 1963
This Brazilian film was made in 1963 but was not released until 1972 because there was a military coup in Brazil in 1963, and films about revolutions, even those taking place in the 17th century, were considered politically dangerous. Farming huge plantations using Native and African slave labor was the economic backbone of Brazil in its early years. Even today, large estates are farmed for their owners by peasant tenant farmers. From the beginning of European involvement until today, there have been innumerable slave and peasant revolts. Usually they were short-lived, brutally suppressed affairs. This film recounts the story of one revolt, in 1641, in which the slaves formed their own nation or "quilombo" and ran it for over 50 years. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
