Central Station (1998)
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Product Description
Two very unlikely souls, a motherless young boy and a lonely retired school teacher become inextricably linked and form an uncommon bond as they ventuAmazon.com
In the opening scenes of Central Station, colorful crowds of Brazilians stream into and out of a Rio de Janeiro train, pushing through doors and windows. You're immediately pulled into the brutal vitality of a nation in motion, setting the tone for a picturesque road movie that charts Brazil's renaissance in a little boy's search for his father and an old woman's emotional reawakening. When we first meet Dora (Fernanda Montenegro), this frozen-hearted, sour-faced woman is the epitome of immobility: day after day, she sits in the train station selling her letter-writing skills to all comers, but often doesn't bother to mail these precious messages. When a woman who's paid Dora to write a pleading note to her son's long-missing dad gets run over by a bus, the child, Josue (Vinicius de Oliveira), is up for grabs. (The summary execution of a thieving street kid--in longshot--underscores the seriousness of this waif's plight.) After an abortive attempt to sell Josue for a new TV, the aspiring couch potato finds herself reluctantly propelled into an occasionally Fellini-esque odyssey through the hinterlands of Brazil's sertäo, where Dora and her sidekick find unexpected faith and family. Former documentary filmmaker Walter Salles (Foreign Land) mixes magic with realism in his appreciation of striking faces and places, but Central Station is primarily fueled by the tough/tender performances of Montenegro, Brazil's Judy Dench, and de Oliveira, an airport shoeshine boy Salles cast over 1,500 other hopefuls. (Montenegro was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, and Central Station was in the running for Best Foreign Language Film.) No cloyingly cute child-star, de Oliveira plays Josue as a bracingly idiosyncratic brat. And watching Dora's face and soul slowly, unwillingly unclench as she gets back in motion--and emotion--is potent pleasure, even if Salles's trip does dead-end in soap opera as his Brazilian pilgrim's progress winds down. --Kathleen MurphyAlso Recommended...
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful:
Humanity TriumphsWhen the mother gets killed in an automobile accident, the boy desperately needs the letter writer as a link to his father. An act of greed on her part sends them into each other's orbit. They begin a crosscountry odyssey looking for the father. Throughout the movie and on that journey we see how the lower end of the economic ladder live in Brazil.
It's a movie with compassion, a warm feeling, a feel-good movie. We see good people and acts of kindness. The spinster evolves, learns a great deal about herself as the story progresses and as she grows fond of the boy. The spinster is turned around by the persistent, insistent boy whose single-minded goal is finding his father. She almost finds romance with a good-hearted truck driver, but that proves elusive when he keeps on trucking.
You'll feel some tearjerking sentimentality, but the movie shows how the humanity of people can build bonds.
It's a movie with superb acting, a gentle touch, and insights into what makes us tick as human beings when faced by adversity.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful:
A mess!2 out of 2 people found this review helpful:
Incredible JourneyI admit that I was not immediately drawn into "Central Station". I realized later that the director did the ground work for "Central Station" very skillfully so that, when the movie "took off", we were very aware of who our main characters were. This is a story of a journey by a very odd couple. The various characters and challenges that they encounter touch our emotions and keep us wondering what will happen next. In the end, we are left with that warm fuzzy feeling that only an excellent movie like this can deliver. I was satisfied with the ending because I realized that the director, Walter Salles, had given us everything we needed. He left us at the right emotional peak with the eventual outcome secure in our immagination.
The actors were new to me but they were, as a whole, excellent. The scenes in the non-Amazonian back country of Brazil were impressive. The directing was outstanding. I remember one scene where our young boy, Josue, is alone and weeping in the station while evil eyes are looking out from dark corners. It was a brief, chilling reminder of what was at stake for Josue. The imperfections in the main characters keeps "Central Station" from becoming too predictable. Our emotional involvement is earned and tested and our satisfaction is real. Don't miss a chance to see this one!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful:
Finding lost souls...Dora, played by Fernanda Montnegro, is magnificent in this film. She is a cynical, sad, middle aged former school teacher who you dislike early on in the film - to someone you begin to acquire compassion for - to a heartfelt ending where you can't help but feel admiration and warmth.
The story opens in Rio de Janeiro where you see spectacular pictures of the crowded trains, train stations, tenement housing - and then moves into the Brazilian countryside where the film-maker captures the desolation, the hardships and the simplicity of life. The film is wrapped in beautiful fitting piano music. Beautiful, moving film...
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful:
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