Jogo Subterrâneo (2005)

Director:

Roberto Gervitz

Writers:

Julio Cortázar (short story)
Jorge Durán (writer)

Release Date:

1 April 2005 (Brazil)

Genre:

Romance | Drama

Plot:

To find the woman of his life, man makes a game up: he enters a subway train wagon, picks a woman he likes and waits to see whether she's going to take the same course and connections as he. If she is, he tries to make contact.

Awards:

3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Felipe Camargo	...	Martín
Maria Luisa Mendonça	...	Ana
Júlia Lemmertz	...	Laura
Daniela Escobar	...	Tania
Maitê Proença	...	Mercedes
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
José Vitor Castiel	...	Gordo
Thavyne Ferrari	...	Victória
Sabrina Greve	...	Sofia
Fausto Maule	...	Tadeu
Massayuki Onishi	...	Waiter

Also Known As:

Underground Game (International: English title)

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

Brazil

Language:

Portuguese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Brazil:16

Company:

Grapho Producoes Artisticas

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Despite being set in São Paulo, virtually every character speaks with a Rio de Janeiro accent.

Quotes:

[subtitled version]
[Felipe Camargo's carachter is playing at the bar he works as pianist. 'Ana' is listening to him. He plays a piece by a very known Brazilian Composer. Ends the song, she is by the piano]
Ana: [claps] Keep playing...
Gordo: If he played this stuff when the bar was open, he'd get fired.
[Ana giggles]
Ana: I liked it.
[she is noticeably drunk]
Ana: Is it yours?
Martín: [ironic] No, it's by a guy called Villa-Lobos.
Ana: Come on, are you gonna turn snob on me? I know more than you may imagine.
[...]

Magnificent Romance

In São Paulo, the weird and romantic piano player Martin (Felipe Camargo) believes in serendipity and invents a game to find the woman of his dreams. He previously selects a route in the subway, and in the wagon, he chases a woman to see if her destiny is the same as his. Following his procedures, he meets Tania (Daniela Escobar), the mother of an autistic girl; the blind writer Laura (Júlia Lemmertz); and the mysterious Ana (Maria Luisa Mendonça), a woman with a secret past, and he falls in love for Ana.

Based on a short story of Julio Cortázar, one of my favorite writers when I was a teenager, "Jogo Subterrâneo" is a magnificent low-budget romance. The story and the stunning music score have the atmosphere of a film-noir; Felipe Camargo, the very sexy Maria Luisa Mendonça, Daniela Escobar, Júlia Lemmertz and the girl Thavyne Ferrari have great performances, and Maitê Proença has a minor but effective participation. There is a ridiculous remark in the IMDb goofs: São Paulo is a cosmopolitan city, and none information is given about the past of the characters; therefore they are living in São Paulo, but they were not necessarily born in São Paulo. The accent of each character is irrelevant in the plot, since their origins are not disclosed along the story. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Jogo Subterrâneo" ("Underground Game")