Cidade Baixa (2005)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Sérgio Machado

Writers:

Karim Ainouz (writer)
Sérgio Machado (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

17 November 2005 (Israel)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Love to live. Live to love.

Plot:

Lifelong friends Deco and Naldinho, who own a small steaming boat in Bahia, meet strip-dancer Karinna. Both men fall for her and their friendship is deeply shattered.

Plot Keywords:

Boat | Best Friend | Love Triangle | Nudity | Cockfighting

Awards:

18 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Lázaro Ramos	...	Deco
Wagner Moura	...	Naldinho
Alice Braga	...	Karinna
José Dumont	...	Sergipano
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tinho Bahia	...	Lutador de Boxe
Harildo Deda	...	Careca
Fernanda de Freitas	...	Nilma
Luís Olho de Gato	...	Sparing
Andréa Elia	...	D. Lenita
Felipe Ferreira	...	Joilson
Nonato Freire	...	Escrivão
Fernando Fulco	...	Delegado
Carolina Kahro Ribeiro	...	Jamily
Agnaldo Lopes	...	Cliente Karinna 2
Ricardo Luedy	...	Cliente Karinna 1
Olga Machado	...	Médica
Wilson Mello	...	Ferreirinha
Maria Menezes	...	Luzinete
João Miguel	...	Edvan
Dois Mundos	...	Himself
Marcos Pedroso	...	Seu Marquinhos
Adelena Rios	...	Dançarina Strip 1
Leno Sacramento	...	Rufino
Débora Santiago	...	Sirlene
Guiga Scott	...	Locutor Xanadu
Ricardo Spencer	...	Marcelo
Divina Valéria	...	Zilu
Taís Wagner	...	Prostituta 1

Directed by
Sérgio Machado

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Karim Ainouz		writer
Sérgio Machado		writer
Adriana Rattes		contributing writer
Gil Vicente Tavares		contributing writer

Produced by
Robert Bevan	....	associate producer
Mauricio Andrade Ramos	....	executive producer
Donald Ranvaud	....	associate producer
Walter Salles	....	producer

Original Music by
Carlinhos Brown
Beto Villares

Cinematography by
Toca Seabra

Film Editing by
Isabela Monteiro de Castro
Isabella Monteiro

Art Direction by
Marcos Pedroso

Costume Design by
Cristina Camargo
André Simonetti

Makeup Department
Rosa Versoça	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Claudia Reis	....	unit production manager
Severo Santos	....	set production manager
Marcelo Torres	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Daniela Carvalho	....	second assistant director
Márcia Faria	....	chief assistant director
Maria Farkas	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Dan Rodrigues	....	property master

Sound Department
Rômulo Drummond	....	boom operator
Leandro Lima	....	sound recordist
Maurício Pascuet	....	foley artist
André Tadeu	....	sound re-recording assistant
Armando Torres Jr.	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Mauricio Couto Bevilaqua	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Marcelo Ferreira PeeJay	....	digital artist
Marcelo Ferreira PeeJay	....	digital effects artist
Marcelo Siqueira	....	post production supervisor
Lilian Stock Bonzi	....	digital effects artist
Ariel Wollinger	....	digital effects artist
Ariel Wollinger	....	film recording supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Kika Cunha	....	camera assistant
Julia Equi	....	camera assist

Music Department
Fil Pinheiro	....	music production

Other crew
Leticia Prisco	....	production assistant
Claudia Reis	....	production coordinator
Maria Fatima Toledo	....	acting coach
New Siah Leng	....	illustrator: concept (uncredited)

Production Companies

• VideoFilmes

Distributors

• Cathay-Keris Films (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Central Partnership (2006) (Russia) (theatrical)
• Festive Films (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Lumière (2005) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Océan Films (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• Palm Pictures (2006) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Paradiso Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• SOROlla Films (2007) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Palm Pictures (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Marcella C. Public Relations  DVD publicity
• Marcella C. Public Relations  special publicity

Also Known As:

Lower City (International: English title) (UK)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language, some violence and drug use.

Runtime:

98 min | Brazil:110 min | Argentina:100 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Brazil

Language:

Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Brazil:16 (theatrical rating) | Brazil:18 (DVD rating) | USA:R | Singapore:R21 | Netherlands:12 | Malaysia:(Banned) | New Zealand:R18 | South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Company:

VideoFilmes

Goofs:

Continuity: In closer shots of Karinna on the stripper pole, we can see that she is wearing panties. In farther-away shots, she appears full-frontally nude, putting said panties on.

Movie Connections:

References Le collectionneur (2002)

Claustrophobic threesome movie has tired plot, inconsistent characters, but high sexual tension

Reading the IMDb comments from non-Brazilian reviewers, I get the impression "Cidade Baixa" has been mismarketed internationally -- it's far from the ambition, impact, range or scope of "City of God" or "Central Station". It's rather a modest chamber movie about a love triangle setting apart lifelong friends Deco (the incredibly overrated Lázaro Ramos, here in a one-note-so-minimalist-it's-really-lifeless performance) and Naldinho (intense, charismatic Wagner Moura) over the sexual attention and ultimately the "true" love of stripper Karinna (newcomer Alice Braga, sexy, lovely, inexperienced and unconvincing).

Director Sérgio Machado's only previous solo feature effort was "Onde a Terra Acaba", a well-researched documentary on Brazilian legendary filmmaker Mário Peixoto and his single finished film, the 1931 classic "Limite". Like many directors who cross the bridge from documentaries to fiction, Machado here is completely taken over by "the magic of acting". While Machado's undisguised fascination with his three lead stars is overwhelming, the characters in "Cidade Baixa" lack real essence -- the emotional outbursts are there, but the motivations are never clear. The great performance and best designed character comes from veteran José Dumont: he creates a multi-layered, throbbing character in five minutes and has more truth and energy than the three stars combined.

The plot is painfully predictable, it has been told before (and better) countless times. The film's ultimate point -- that a threesome is as good an arrangement as any -- is only shyly hinted at, and probably won't come across for many viewers, but the sexual tension is tangible the whole time. The film is professionally accomplished, but I'm not sure the director's choice for claustrophobic settings and overuse of close-up shots is helpful to the story-- indeed it's a shame that we hardly get to see the open spaces and the entrancing population of Cidade Baixa (the lower part of the city of Salvador, capital of Bahia), which, after all, is the title of the movie! If you blink, you'll miss the falling-to-pieces but still impressive colonial architecture, and you may not see the low-life poverty and fight-for-life vibrancy typical of that neighborhood, because the camera only has eyes for the three stars. Even the Lacerda elevator (the architectural landmark that divides the Lower from Upper City) is seen but for a few seconds. And, for those of us who know and love Salvador for its magical spiritual and carnal energy, the life-affirming music, the irrepressible live-and-let-live savoir-vivre, it's really hard to believe how grim, bleak and sullen all these characters are.

Anyway, the film is never boring, has some good scenes and it's thankfully unpretentious, but the loose ending can be a letdown for many viewers. Maybe next time the talented but still unimposing Sérgio Machado will find a finer balance to his elements, adding a thicker, less tired plot and widening his framings to fully explore his locations, all of which deserves his attention as much as his cast.