South-of-the-border cinema seems to be the red-headed stepchild
of the filmmaking industry. While Asia, Europe and even Africa
have had their day in the sun, Mexico, Central and South America
have had a devil of a time breaking into the worldwide movie market.
Although films such as Like Water For Chocolate do occasionally
make a big splash in international waters, the vast majority of
Hispanic films remain mired behind the borders of their own country.
This is hardly a reflection of the quality of films. Indeed, Mexico,
Cuba and other Spanish-speaking nations have produced some of
the more interesting filmmakers of the last decade. One has to
wonder why films from Italy, France, China and even Hong Kong
have been welcomed onto American shores with open arms while southern
cinephiles remain persona non grata in our nation's cineplexes.
This year may prove to be a watershed, however, thanks to the
stirring efforts of one small film from Brazil. Central Station
won Best Film and Best Actress at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival
and went on to garner much goodwill at film fests worldwide. In
the waning days of 1998, star Fernanda Montenegro nabbed herself
Best Actress nods from the National Board of Review and the Los
Angeles Film Critics Association. Buzz on the film hit a fever
pitch in January when the Foreign Press Association awarded it
two Golden Globes for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actress
(Drama). Central Station is Brazil's official entry for
the 1998 Academy Awards, and seems to be on the fast track to
nab a golden boy or two. While this may not open the floodgates
for all Latin American film, it certainly adds some star power
to the résumés of at least a few Latino filmmakers.
Central Station is the story of a bitter ex-teacher named
Dora (Fernanda Montenegro) who makes a meager living transcribing
letters for illiterate Brazilians in Rio's crowded central train
station. Every day, Dora listens to the pathetic stories of her
clients. Some send letters to husbands in jail. Some beg relatives
for money. Some implore faithless lovers to return. Through it
all, Dora seems icily unfazed by the teeming humanity surrounding
her. At night, Dora paws through the letters and decides--god-like--which
deserve to be sent (almost none) and which deserve to be trashed
(nearly all).
Dora's emotionally insulated life changes, though, when a young
boy's mother is killed near the train station. With nowhere to
go and no one to turn to, the young boy (Vinicius de Oliveira)
joins the hoards of homeless children clogging Centro do Brasil.
In time, Dora grudgingly "adopts" the scrappy Josué
and takes him on a cross-country trek to locate his long-lost
biological father.
What follows is a leisurely road movie that touches on some deeply
humanist issues. Montenegro's Dora is a singular creation--at
first a lonely and cynical woman whose humanity has been eroded
by the poverty and overcrowding that pervades Rio de Janeiro.
In hooking up with Josué, though, she proves that she still
has some deep-seeded need to connect with her fellow human beings.
To its credit, Central Station never stoops to cutesy manipulation
or easy pathos. It could easily be compared to 1997's foreign
heart-tugger Kolya--about a crusty old bachelor who is
transformed by a sad-eyed orphan. Josué is no heart-melting
moppet, however, and Dora bears no thin patina of movie crust.
Josué is a tough-minded pre-teen, and Dora spends nearly
the entire film being a certified bitch.
Indeed, Central Station makes no quick ploy for audience
sympathies. It takes quite a long time to warm to the characters
in this slow-burning tear-jerker. Fernanda Montenegro does work
some subtle magic here, shifting her character--degree by grudging
degree--from callous introvert to caring human. Early scenes of
Dora selling Josué off to some black marketeers for a new
TV set might be a little off-putting, but viewers are advised
to stick it out. A unique and satisfying happy ending is on tap.
The standard road movie template doesn't leave a lot of room for
surprise in Central Station. One hardly needs to be reminded
that characters on a cross-country quest rarely find exactly what
their looking for (a truism that applies to The Wizard of Oz
as handily as Apocalypse Now). Naturally, Josué
and Dora are less searching for a lost father than they are for
their own eroded emotions. Although director Walter Salles (A
Grande Arte, Foreign Land) sends his characters down an admittedly
well-worn path, he manages to hit some unique and affecting emotional
highs. A truckstop encounter in which Dora tests out her withered
womanhood with a spent tube of lipstick is a cruel bit of beauty.
Another scene in which Dora's heart is awakened at a religious
festival in a tiny mountain village makes for some marvelously
poetic closure. Central Station travels a difficult, slow-paced
emotional road--but persistant viewers will find, in the end,
it's a journey packed with humble rewards.
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