| Central Station - Central do Brasil (1998)
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| Front Cover |
Actor |
Back Cover |
|
| Fernanda Montenegro |
Dora
|
| Vinícius de Oliveira |
Josué
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| Vinicius De Oliveira |
|
| Marilia Pera |
|
| Marília Pêra |
Irene
|
| Soia Lira |
Ana
|
| Othon Bastos |
Cesar
|
| Otávio Augusto |
Pedrão
|
| Stela Freitas |
Yolanda
|
| Matheus Nachtergaele |
Isaías
|
| Caio Junqueira |
Moisés
|
| Socorro Nobre |
Dora's Client
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| Plot |
| 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 Murphy |
| Movie Details |
| Genre |
Drama; Foreign |
| Director |
Walter Salles |
| Producer |
Arthur Cohn |
| Writer |
Marcos Bernstein; João Emanuel Carneiro |
|
| Studio |
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment |
| Country |
USA
|
| Language |
English |
| Audience Rating |
R |
| Running Time |
106 mins |
| Movie Release Date |
11/20/1998 |
| Color |
Color |
|
| Personal Details |
| Format |
DVD |
| Seen It |
Yes |
| Index |
537 |
| Collection Status |
In Collection |
| Purchase Date |
10/15/2005 |
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| Product Details |
| Region |
 Region 1 |
| Screen Ratio |
 2.35:1 |
| Layers |
Single Side, Single Layer |
| UPC (Barcode) |
043396038332 |
| Chapters |
28 |
| Release Date |
7/13/1999 |
| Subtitles |
English |
| Packaging |
Keep Case |
| Audio Tracks |
Portuguese Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo |
| Nr of Disks/Tapes |
1 |
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Extra Features
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Producer, Director, and Lead Actress Commentary
Talent Files
Theatrical Trailer
Interactive Menus
Scene Selection |
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