a film by Walter Salles & Daniela Thomas
The story chronicles the union between Paco, an aspiring actor living in São Paulo, Brazil, and Brazil-born Alex, who works as a waitress in Lisbon, Portugal and lives with Miguel, a musician-smuggler addicted to heroin. It is set in 1990 when Brazilian president Fernando Collor de Mello threw his country into economic turmoil by suddenly confiscating the savings accounts of the entire population. At this time, Paco is living with his elderly mother in a poor São Paulo neighbourhood. Tired of living in squalor, his mother's only dream is to return to her native Spain, but on learning that her savings have been seized, the old woman dies of shock. Now without his mother, Paco feels little desire to stay in Brazil and so meets with the sleazy Igor, an antiques dealer, and agrees to smuggle a violin stuffed with raw diamonds to Lisbon to pay for his travel to the homeland.
Paco is to take the violin to a certain hotel where he will be paid by a contact. When the contact does not arrive as planned, and after losing the package, Paco is led down a twisting road filled with murder, danger and intrigue that eventually ends in the arms of Alex. But now Alex and Paco must somehow avoid the murderous thugs who Igor has sent to kill them. In their attempt at escape to begin a new life together, the two lovers flee to the Spanish border, heading for San Sebastián in northern Spain, the birthplace of Paco's mother.
This beautifully shot Brazilian film noir mystery from 1996, with its high chiaroscuro grainy cinematography, is a gripping tale of innocence, love and adventure. It explores the loneliness experienced by immigrants, their feelings of alienation, desperation, and the uncertainty of whom to trust when finding themselves alone in a foreign land. The film's final scenes famously feature the beautiful song "Vapor Barato" by Gal Costa.
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