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Linha de Passe (2008)

Director: Walter Salles, Daniela Thomas

Time Out rating

Average user rating

4 reviews

Synopsis

Walter Salles’ first film since ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’ was shot in São Paulo and is about four brothers from a poor Brazilian family.

Movie review

From Time Out London

Walter Salles, whether working with Daniela Thomas (‘Foreign Land’) or not (‘The Motorcycle Diaries’), has shown himself to be one of the finest, most politically aware and technically accomplished talents in South American cinema. His latest, which casts a finely balanced eye over life in Brazil’s favelas through its study of the life of a lone mother and her four sons, offers a beguiling blend of urban poetry and extremely well-observed social realism.

It begins with a disturbing howl emanating from the darkness of their poor apartment on the outskirts of São Paulo. This is no cry of despair but rather the labour yelps of the mother, Cleuza (Sandra Corveloni). The film’s excellent, dovetailed script and the liveliness of its performances provide an intimate, honest portrait of the four half-brothers: talented 18-year-old footballer Dario; messenger Dínis; religious pump attendant Dinho; and aspirant bus driver Reginaldo. The film speaks well of lived experience and difficult choices, stripped of many of the violent clichés, exaggerations and expressions of hopelessness in the face of poverty, corruption and crime depicted in some favela melodramas.

Salles and Thomas’s movie contains some extraordinary moments and its fine editing injects a dynamic cross-cutting energy. But, it must be said, there are some stiff or incredible scenes that hark back to the sentimentality of old neo-realism, while its open-ended finale leaves the viewer a little let down and unsatisfied.

Author: Wally Hammond 2008-09-16 12:16:42

Time Out London Issue 1987, 17-23 Sept, 2008

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User reviews of this film

jim said...

Posted on May 21 2009 23:21 I also agree with Mark. The ending irritated me most.. one big disillusion..

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Charles said...

Posted on Sep 26 2008 14:13 I agree with Wally. The film is beautiful and very fine edited. I really enjoyed it.

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Paul said...

Posted on Sep 21 2008 22:44 I am with Mark and was reaching for both my pillow and razor blade halfway through the film. Some of the audience left and the film did drag on. I wanted to like the film but it did ramble on. I give it two for effort too.

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Mark said...

Posted on Sep 21 2008 12:35 This reviewer must have seen a different film from me...this film should have been SO much better. It was all over the place and felt disjointed, confused and ultimately pointless. It claims to be set in a favela but was ultimately just a poor neghbourhood of the city - a far cry from the reality of favela living. The film lacked a heart, the cutting was annoying, the football scenes were played out to the point of boredom, and the ending was plain silly. 2 out of 6.

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