Cinema Aspirins and Vultures

A modest but lovely road movie set at the time of WW2 in the vast, arid expanses of the Brazilian Sertao, where Johann (Ketnath), a German avoiding the war, drives a bashed-up old truck to remote villages selling the new wonder-drug aspirin with the help of a projector and some promo shorts. In giving a lift to Ranulpho (Miguel), he inadvertently picks up an assistant and – this being a movie – a friend; but what lift the film above cliché are the wit and unsentimental warmth of the script, direction and performances (Miguel is especially captivating), the subtle details of characterisation and the sure sense of place. Very fresh, very charming.