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THE
MIDDLE OF THE WORLD
7?/10
O
Caminho das nuvens : Brazil 2003 : Vicente AMORIM
: 85 mins
The
film is based on a true story of a family taking his wife and five children
on a cycling trip from the poor northeastern corner of Brazil to Rio de
Janeiro to find work. This is a distance of 3,200km (approximately Tromsø
to Oslo and back). The family suffers incredible hardships, both mentally
and physically. They do not bring more than they can carry on their four
bicycles, and must live on what they can scrounge on their way. Traditional
family ties and loyalties are subjected to a tough test.
(from official Tromsø 2004 Film Festival programme)
‘Two wheels
good’ indeed… It’s rare and welcome to see a road movie featuring bicycles
rather than motorised transport: the family shown here seem to have
taken Norman Tebbit’s “on your bike” advice (given to the early-80s British
jobless) literally, setting off in search of a decent (1000-real-per-month)
wage in Rio de Janeiro. This is the bright idea of macho-but-reasonable
dad Romao (Wagner Moura, a fresh-faced Banderas type) – joined by his
stoic wife Rose (Claudia Abreu) and their five kids. Among them is Antonio
(Ramos Lacerda), the oldest at around 15, and increasingly impatient to
make his own way in the world.
This is, essentially,
Antonio’s story – the film reaches its conclusion soon after he finally
leaves his family to start working on his own. There’s only a very brief
sequence showing the remainder of the group in Rio – but these shots are
the most spectacular in the film, taking place under the outstretched
(welcoming? protective?) arms of that city’s mountain-top Christ statue.
There isn’t any explosive or surprising denouement – David Franca Mendes’
script is based on true events, which presumably explains why he’s able
to resist the melodramas which many screenwriters would inject into fictional
equivalents.
There are,
of course, dramas along the way – and moments of suspense, as when the
family are split up and certain members recruited into demeaning work
as ‘tribal’ dancers in a theme-park-type affair called ‘The Road to the
Clouds’ (the original Portuguese title, which fits much better than the
rather anodyne Anglophone version). But at all times, Amorim commendably
resists the urge to preach or make soapbox points about Brazil’s dire
economic straits, or the cultural factors (like religion) which also affect
the family’s life. Similarly, no particular ‘authorial’ position taken
on the wisdom or otherwise of Romao’s plan, which alternately seems heroic
and hare-brained.
This is an
engagingly upbeat and fresh take on some well-worn ‘developing world’
cinematic themes, with an eclectic score by Andre Abujamra and alluringly
burnished cinematography by Gustavo Hadba. If anything, the film looks
a little too good: this is a distinctly romanticised and aestheticised
view of what should be grinding poverty and sweat-soaked toil. Given the
glowing beauty of Abreu, for instance, it seems scarcely credible that
Rose has had one child, let alone five. Putting these distracting quibbles
aside, The Middle of the World - edited by Pedro Amorim down to
a brisk 85 minutes - covers an impressive amount of ground. By the time
Romao and Rose get to Rio, the audience will feel as though they too have
been taken on quite a journey – though anyone who’s seen City
of God may fear that the family’s troubles have only just begun…
3rd February,
2004
(seen 16th January : Kulturhuset, Tromsø – Tromsø
International Film Festival)
click here
for a full list of reviewed films from the Tromsø International Film Festival
2004
by Neil
Young
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