Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Man of the Year (2003)
Director: José Henrique Fonseca
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
That violence is endemic and fatally corrupting in contemporary Brazil seems to be the message from City of God and other recent Brazilian films. 'Before you're born, maybe God decides how to fuck your life!' intones the low key anti-hero of this moody existential drama, based on Patrícia Melo's novel O Matador. Not a natural born killer, the quietly spoken Máiquel (Benício) has hit-man status thrust upon him by the complicitous Rio police and an admiring local community, following his gunning down of slimy thief Suel for mocking his 'poofy' dyed-blonde hair. Ouch! Soon Dr Carvalho and his coterie of racist, complacent middle-class merchants are sponsoring his hits, and his hopes of an ordinary life with beautiful Cledir (Abreu) are washed away in a sea of blood. The film's languid moral distance and matter of fact depictions of gunplay have sparked misleading comparisons with Tarantino. Occasionally impressive first-timer Fonseca employs interior monologue and Breno Silveira's impressive visuals to create a convincing dream-like expressionism, describing a world where arbitrary violence and the absence of judicial retribution have stoked a pervasive, godless malaise, wherein all moral, ethical or religious boundaries have dissolved. That Benício makes Máiquel sympathetic at all is a tribute to his discipline, but there are too many other attitudinising aspects, not least in the macho-tainted sex scenes. An uneasy blend of absurdist comedy and fatigued parable, this flawed film is, finally, less edifying than it aspires to be.Author: WH
Cast & crew
Director: José Henrique Fonseca
Producer: Flávio R Tambellini, José Henrique Fonseca, Leonardo Monteiro de Barros
Cast: Murilo Benício, Cláudia Abreu, Natália Lage, Jorge Dória, André Gonçalves, Lázaro Ramos, Perfeito Fortuna full cast
Duration: 113 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now