Central do Brasil (1998)

Director:

Walter Salles

Writers:

Marcos Bernstein (writer)
João Emanuel Carneiro (writer)

Release Date:

20 November 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

He was looking for the father he never knew. She was looking for a second chance.

Plot:

An emotive journey of a former school teacher, who write letters for illiterate people, and a young boy, whose mother has just died, in search for the father he never knew.

Plot Keywords:

Letter | Teacher | Brazil | Theft | Bus

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 29 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Fernanda Montenegro	...	Dora
Marília Pêra	...	Irene
Vinícius de Oliveira	...	Josué
Soia Lira	...	Ana
Othon Bastos	...	Cesar
Otávio Augusto	...	Pedrão
Stela Freitas	...	Yolanda
Matheus Nachtergaele	...	Isaías
Caio Junqueira	...	Moisés
Socorro Nobre	...	Dora's Client
Manoel Gomes	...	Dora's Client
Roberto Andrade	...	Dora's Client
Sheyla Kenia	...	Dora's Client
Malcon Soares	...	Dora's Client
Maria Fernandes	...	Dora's Client

Also Known As:

Central Station (UK) (USA)
Central do Brasil (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

113 min | Canada:115 min | Finland:110 min | Netherlands:108 min | Germany:108 min

Country:

Brazil | France

Language:

Portuguese | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12/9 | France:U | Germany:6 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:12 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Central do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

Central do Brasil is the name of Rio de Janeiro's Central Station.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Dora's Client: [dictating a letter] My darling, My heart belongs to you. No matter what you've done, I still love you. I love you. While you're locked in there all those years, I'll be locked up out here, waiting for you.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Hoje É Dia de Maria 2" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Toada e desafio

Very Moving Film

A wonderful film, that works on several layers. This is a film about a cynical woman who becomes a "mother" to a young boy who has just lost his mother. Through the course of this film, this woman, Dora, learns to love. The young boy, Josue, learns to live again. Each is so clearly delineated and so clearly defined that the film is a pleasure from beginning to end.

Central Station actually beat "Life is Beautiful" at some of the world's top awards ceremonies for that year, and you can see why. Its acting is superb, and Walter Salles' direction is with a masterly touch. The cinematography, evoking that desaturated, golden world of Brazil is beautiful - it's a lesson in itself on how to make an apparently 'gritty' world very beautiful. Watch this film.