I don't think this is really a movie; it seems more a very boring and stretched episode of a bad soap opera before the editing to fit a 50 minutes episode. Brazilian TV Globo makes much better episodes of its soap operas, every day, in only 50 minutes, than this pointless group of stories with no meaning at all and very bad acting that goes over and over by 2 and a half hours. The only exception is the brilliant actor Irandhir Santos but in a very small role.
Some foreign people maybe have seen something interesting about watching the Brazilian life in a regular neighborhood, because they don't know Brazil, but in this case, it is like a mocumentary and it doesn't make it a good film even why almost anything happens in the film, there are better and more interesting neighborhoods to be shown.
Some critics, obviously friends or friendly with the director, who is a critic too, pointed out some qualities that maybe were all in the intention or in the head of the director but for sure are not in the film. This way of reviewing movies is very common in Brazil, most of "intelectualoides" critics, like the director, prefer to judge the pseudo-ideas behind the movie besides what is really in the screen and how it affects the public. This happens because these people make movies in Brazil with Government money and they don't have the concern of making money with the public of their films, because they make the money in the production, receiving their money as screenwriter, director, producer, etc. This way they are able to do whatever they want with a complete despise by the public opinion and stay happy with the complements of their "intelectualoides" critics and friends in more than one hundred Film Festivals whose juries think like then. The consequence is that it has been a long time since Brazil doesn't receive a decent prize in a decent Festival, besides TROPA DE ELITE in Berlin, that was done by a director who wasn't a critic or "intelectualoide" and was concerned about the public and telling a good story, that is exactly what doesn't exist here. Unfortunately this movie was indicated by Brazil to represent the country in the foreign Oscar e guess what? It was a shame, not even in the eight final possible nominated it was. Very understandable by the way. This director many times showed his despise by the TV Network Globo and now I can understand why. He wanted to work there writing or directing soap operas and he wasn't able to get the job by this film I can understand why.
Some foreign people maybe have seen something interesting about watching the Brazilian life in a regular neighborhood, because they don't know Brazil, but in this case, it is like a mocumentary and it doesn't make it a good film even why almost anything happens in the film, there are better and more interesting neighborhoods to be shown.
Some critics, obviously friends or friendly with the director, who is a critic too, pointed out some qualities that maybe were all in the intention or in the head of the director but for sure are not in the film. This way of reviewing movies is very common in Brazil, most of "intelectualoides" critics, like the director, prefer to judge the pseudo-ideas behind the movie besides what is really in the screen and how it affects the public. This happens because these people make movies in Brazil with Government money and they don't have the concern of making money with the public of their films, because they make the money in the production, receiving their money as screenwriter, director, producer, etc. This way they are able to do whatever they want with a complete despise by the public opinion and stay happy with the complements of their "intelectualoides" critics and friends in more than one hundred Film Festivals whose juries think like then. The consequence is that it has been a long time since Brazil doesn't receive a decent prize in a decent Festival, besides TROPA DE ELITE in Berlin, that was done by a director who wasn't a critic or "intelectualoide" and was concerned about the public and telling a good story, that is exactly what doesn't exist here. Unfortunately this movie was indicated by Brazil to represent the country in the foreign Oscar e guess what? It was a shame, not even in the eight final possible nominated it was. Very understandable by the way. This director many times showed his despise by the TV Network Globo and now I can understand why. He wanted to work there writing or directing soap operas and he wasn't able to get the job by this film I can understand why.