O Ano em Que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias (2006)

Director:

Cao Hamburger

Writers:

Adriana Falcão (script collaborator)
Claudio Galperin (writer)

Release Date:

2 November 2006 (Brazil)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A boy is left alone in a Jewish neighborhood in the year of 1970, where both world cup and dictatorship happen in Brazil.

Plot Keywords:

Jewish | World Cup | 1970 | Grandfather | Brazil

Awards:

21 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

Michel Joelsas	...	Mauro
Germano Haiut	...	Shlomo
Paulo Autran	...	Mótel, Mauro's grandfather
Simone Spoladore	...	Bia - Mauro's mother
Eduardo Moreira	...	Daniel, Mauro's father
Caio Blat	...	Ítalo
Daniela Piepszyk	...	Hanna
Liliana Castro	...	Irene
Rodrigo dos Santos	...	Edgar
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Felipe Hanna Braun	...	Caco
Gabriel Eric Bursztein	...	Bóris
Abrahão Farc	...	Anatol
Haim Fridman	...	Duda
Gérson	...	Himself (archive footage)
Edu Guimarães	...	Alfredo
Jairzinho	...	Himself (archive footage)
David Kullock
Sérgio Mastropasqua	...	Man #2
Pelé	...	Himself (archive footage)
Rivelino	...	Himself (archive footage)
João Saldanha	...	Himself (archive footage)
Hugueta Sendacz	...	Dona Eidel
Tostão	...	Himself (archive footage)

Also Known As:

The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic material, mild language, brief suggestive content, some violence and smoking.

Runtime:

Brazil:104 min (theatrical and DVD) | Brazil:110 min | Argentina:104 min | Germany:104 min (Berlin International Film Festival)

Country:

Brazil

Language:

Portuguese | Yiddish | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:10 | Netherlands:6 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | France:Unrated | USA:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Argentina:13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Bom Retiro, São Paulo, Brazil

Company:

Gullane Filmes

Trivia:

Brazil's Official Submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chacun son cinéma ou Ce petit coup au coeur quand la lumière s'éteint et que le film commence (2007)

Soundtrack:

Eu Sou Terrível

The Year of Grief & Glory

Coming of age tales seem to be old fashioned, perhaps because we've already got so many of these stories that they all seem the same. "Amarcord" (perhaps the least conventional coming of age film ever made - but what would you expect from Federico Fellini's reminiscences?), "Pelle, the Conqueror", "My Life as a Dog", "Summer of '42" and "Radio Days", just to name a few, are unforgettable films. Naturally, these stories tend to repeat old clichés, but every now and then we get a fresh and sincere coming of age film, even if it's not innovative or particularly original. "O Ano em que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias" aka "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation" is one of those. It's not in the same level as the gems I mentioned, but it's delicate and touching.

Brazil, 1970: military dictatorship haunts the nation, and 12 year-old Mauro (Michel Joelsas) is sent to live in São Paulo with his grandfather (Paulo Autran), when his parents go "on vacation". While he waits for his parents to come back, Mauro roots for Brazil to win the FIFA World Cup for the third time. The movie resembles two good recent flicks, "Kamchatka" (Argentina, 2002) and "The Miracle of Bern" (Germany, 2003), in the way it has dictatorship and soccer at the core of their stories. Without being a masterpiece, "O Ano em que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias" is a nostalgic piece about an important time in Brazilian history. Besides, it was Paulo Autran's (one of, if not THE, greatest Brazilian actors of all time) last movie - an extra reason to check it. 8/10.