julazul

This film is lightweight but entertaining. It is the kind of movie I'd usually get impatient with but the pacing kept me engaged - that, and the ever-amusing Stepan Nercessian (Neto). His sidekick, Lula, is played by Reginaldo Farias, who also wrote and directed "Quem tem medo." The film's title in English is "Who's afraid of the werewolf?" It opens with Lula and Neto consulting an ancient map to find Lula's family land,only to find a city instead of the expected valley. In town, they pick up Iracema, who, though stood up by her bridegroom, is eventually courted (if you can call it that)by three of the 4 main male characters, including the werewolf. The whole movie is dreamlike in its jump from reality to reality and one never knows what's really going on. To judge it severely, it is neither fish nor fowl - not funny enough throughout to be a comedy, nor sufficiently scary to work as a horror movie. Nor could we call it psychologically deep unless one wants to read into it references to the dictatorship: references that probably weren't there. Anyway, as a fan of Brazilian cinema I enjoyed seeing this. It was fun, moved right along, and had some nice interior sets and outside shots of the Brazilian countryside.

No, vinyl will never die, which unfortunately for the environment is true on several levels. But I digress. I LOVED "Durval Discos" for so many reasons, starting with the clever opening credits that not only pulled me right into the scene but had me sighing with saudade to be back in a Brazilian city and experiencing the everyday flow of life there. Secondly there was the homage to MPB which had me feeling as reverent as the character Fat Marley when he comes across a certain LP in the bin - easily the funniest scene in the movie. That is, unless you count the one where Durval is explaining just why vinyl LPs are better than CDs, which he refuses to sell in his shop. To me, with all those classic records at his fingertips, Durval had the dream job of all time, yet his peaceful existence was about to be shattered like a brittle 78. Despite the puzzling ending, I was glad that the movie kept its edge and never descended into the "cute kiddie wins over curmudgeonly bachelor" formula. Etty Fraser is fantastic as the out-of control (would-be) grandma. See this if you get the chance!