Best Brazilian movies I've seen so far
This is a list of Brazilian movies I rated 8.0 or plus. The order in the list does not necessarily reflects my preference, but the first ones I rated 10 whereas the last ones I rated 8.
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- DirectorFernando MeirellesKátia LundStarsAlexandre RodriguesLeandro FirminoMatheus NachtergaeleIn the slums of Rio, two kids' paths diverge as one struggles to become a photographer and the other a kingpin.
- DirectorGuel ArraesStarsMatheus NachtergaeleSelton MelloRogério CardosoFollows the lives of 2 poor Brazilians and their schemes to get money and the consequences of their actions.
- DirectorMarcos JorgeStarsJoão MiguelFabiula NascimentoBabu SantanaIn the great restaurant of life, there are those who eat and those who get eaten. Raimundo Nonato finds an alternative way, a life of his own: he cooks in order to survive and find a place in society. He arrives in town without a penny in his pockets and starts working as help in a decadent bar, a nasty place, lost amid the urban desert. He sleeps in the storage room on the back, and under a cold neon light learns how to fry "pastel" and "coxinhas", outdoing his "master", Zulmiro, the owner of the bar. Nonato is ignorant, but talented. He knows how to work the kitchen, soon others realize it too. The first one to notice him, is Iria, a prostitute, who doesn't know how to cook but loves to eat and starts an affair with him. Then, Giovanni, the owner of the Boccaccio (an Italian restaurant in the neighborhood), offers Nonato a job as his apprentice. A turn of events results in Nonato spending time in prison. For the prisoners and their boss, the violent Bujiù, Nonato is a savior; in fact soon their meager meals turn to a feast of exotic dishes orchestrated by Nonato's magic. As a consequence of this, Nonato is given the following the nickname, a well suited one indeed: Rosemary.
- DirectorWalter SallesStarsJosé DumontRodrigo SantoroRita AssemanyWhen ordered by his father to avenge the death of his older brother, a young man questions the tradition of violence between two rival families.
- DirectorPetra CostaStarsLi AnElena AndradePetra CostaElena, a young Brazilian woman, travels to New York with the same dream as her mother, to become a movie actress. She leaves behind her childhood spent in hiding during the years of the military dictatorship. She also leaves Petra, her seven year old sister. Two decades later, Petra also becomes an actress and goes to New York in search of Elena. She only has a few clues about her: home movies, newspaper clippings, a diary and letters. At any moment Petra hopes to find Elena walking in the streets in a silk blouse. Gradually, the features of the two sisters are confused; we no longer know one from the other. When Petra finally finds Elena in an unexpected place, she has to learn to let her go.
- DirectorEduardo CoutinhoStarsFernando JoséThe daily lives and routine of 37 families living in a huge 12-story building in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro: their drama, aspirations, intimate revelations, loneliness, dreams...
- DirectorRené SampaioStarsFabrício BoliveiraIsis ValverdeFelipe AbibJoão do Santo Cristo leaves his hometown and moves to Brasília in search of a better life. There, he encounters misery and crime, but also discovers love in the arms of Maria Lúcia.
- DirectorBruno BarretoStarsAlan ArkinPedro CardosoFernanda TorresBrazillian urban guerrilla fighters kidnap the American Ambassador. Now, the diplomat's life hangs in the balance - helplessly caught between a government unwilling to cooperate - and his fear of the captors themselves.
- DirectorAfonso PoyartStarsFernando Alves PintoAlessandra NegriniCaco CioclerIn São Paulo, the scheme of the corrupt DA Júlia and her mate, the lawyer Henrique with the gangster Maicom is discovered and sent to the Internal Affairs. Maicom is responsible for kidnappings, murderers and heists and his only chance is the support of the corrupt and powerful assemblyman Jader Kerteis that demands 2 million-dollars to help him. Meanwhile the "paulistano" Edgar, who killed a mother and her son two years ago in a car accident, invites the "motoboy" and thief Velinha to steal the escorted courier that is carrying the pouch with the money to be delivered to Jader. How their lives are entwined?
- DirectorJorge FurtadoStarsAndré ArtecheAna Maria MainieriPedro FurtadoA coming of age dramatic comedy dealing with the effect that two "summers" have on the lives of several teenagers. The main story involves an innocent teenage boy and a conniving teenage girl who meet on a beach one summer in Southern Brazil. They meet up again the following summer.
- DirectorGustavo SpolidoroStarsKarina KazueLindon Satoru ShimizuArtur PintoThe film tells the story of sixteen people in the hottest day of the year in the city of Porto Alegre.
- DirectorJorge FurtadoStarsLázaro RamosLeandra LealLuana PiovaniA Brazilian photocopier operator falls in love with a girl who lives in an opposite house and spends his evenings looking at her through his binoculars.
- DirectorWalter SallesDaniela ThomasStarsSandra CorveloniJoão BaldasseriniVinícius de OliveiraA story about four brothers from a poor family who need to fight to follow their dreams.
- DirectorHeitor DhaliaStarsLaura NeivaVincent CasselCamilla BelleA 1980s-set drama about a teenage girl undergoing her sexual awakening when she learns about her father's infidelities.
- DirectorJosé PadilhaStarsWagner MouraIrandhir SantosAndré RamiroAfter a prison riot, former-Captain Nascimento, now a high ranking security officer in Rio de Janeiro, is swept into a bloody political dispute that involves government officials and paramilitary groups.
- DirectorJosé PadilhaStarsWagner MouraAndré RamiroCaio JunqueiraIn 1997 Rio de Janeiro, Captain Nascimento has to find a substitute for his position while trying to take down drug dealers and criminals before the Pope visits.
- DirectorWalter CarvalhoStarsLeonardo MedeirosGabriella HámoriGiovanna AntonelliJosé Costa is a Brazilian ghost writer. Returning from a ghost writers convention his airplane is rerouted to Budapest. His life is also rerouted when he meets Krista and with her help, learns "the only language in the world which, according to the tongue-wagers, the devil respects".
- DirectorLaís BodanzkyStarsRodrigo SantoroOthon BastosCássia KisA trip to the mental institution hell. This odyssey is lived by Neto, a middle class teenager, who lives a normal life until his father sends him to a mental institution after finding drugs on his pocket. The marijuana cigarette is just the final drop that exposes the family tragedy. Send to a mental institution, Neto gets to know a completely absurd, inhumane reality in which the people are devoured by a corrupt and cruel institution system. The documentary type language used by the director give this movie a sensation of realty that increases even more the impact of the emotions Neto goes through. In the mental institution, Neto is forced to mature. The transformations that he goes through change this relations with his father.
- DirectorCláudio TorresStarsPedro CardosoMiguel FalabellaFernanda MontenegroCélio Rocha believes he was assigned by God Himself a difficult mission: to persuade his childhood friend Otávio Sabóia, a corrupt entrepeneur in the construction business, to give away all his possessions to the poor.
- DirectorMiguel Faria Jr.StarsJoaquim de AlmeidaAnthony O'DonnellMaria de MedeirosRio de Janeiro, 1886. Actress Sarah Bernhardt performs at the city's Municipal Theater, captivating the local audience enthralled by French culture. The city is at her feet, and even the Emperor Dom Pedro II comes to pay his respects. He confides a secret to her: the disappearance of a precious Stradivarius violin presented by him to the charming widow Baroness Maria Luiza. The actress suggests he hire her friend, the legendary British detective Sherlock Holmes, to solve the case. Under the heat of the tropical sun, the lives of Holmes and Watson are changed forever, as they find themselves knee-deep in a cultural hodgepodge that includes all the standard Brazilian tourist fare.
- DirectorKleber Mendonça FilhoStarsAna Rita GurgelCaio AlmeidaMaeve JinkingsThe lives of the residents of a Brazilian apartment building and the security guards who get the job guarding the surrounding streets.
- DirectorHeitor DhaliaStarsSelton MelloPaula BraunPaulo AlvesA pawn shop proprietor buys used goods from desperate locals--as much to play perverse power games as for his own livelihood, but when the perfect rump and a backed-up toilet enter his life, he loses all control.
- DirectorSergio RezendeStarsJosé WilkerCláudia AbreuPaulo BettiThe drama of a poor family in the bloodiest war in the History of Brazil: the war of Canudos.
- DirectorAntónio-Pedro VasconcelosStarsSoraia ChavesIvo CanelasNicolau BreynerMaria (Soraia Chaves) a sensual call girl, is hired by Mouros (Joaquim de Almeida) to seduce Meireles (Nicolau Breyner), the Mayor of Vilanova, so that he can authorize a multinational to build a high quality resort. However, Madeira (Ivo Canelas) and Neves (Jose Raposo), PJ police detectives, discover the evidence of corruption and begin to investigate Meireles. Everything becomes even more complex when Madeira finds out that Maria, the passion of his life, is the bait that will force the politician to give way.This one is not a Brazilian movie, but it's a nice Portuguese movie I decided to include in the list.