Saneamento Básico, O Filme (2007)

Director:

Jorge Furtado

Writer:

Jorge Furtado (writer)

Release Date:

20 July 2007 (Brazil)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A small community of descendants of Italian immigrants in the interior of the state of Rio Grande do Sul resorts to making a video to try to solve the problems of basic sanitation that plague their village. |

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

Fernanda Torres	...	Marina
Wagner Moura	...	Joaquim
Camila Pitanga	...	Silene
Bruno Garcia	...	Fabrício
Janaína Kremer Motta	...	Marcela (as Janaína Kremer)
Lázaro Ramos	...	Zico
Tonico Pereira	...	Antônio
Paulo José	...	Otaviano
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marcelo Aquino	...	Leonardo
Irene Brietzke	...	Teacher
Zéu Britto	...	1st Workman
Felipe De Paula	...	Mayor's Driver
Sérgio Lulkin	...	Mayor
Giovanni Martini	...	Boy with the lighter
Lúcio Mauro Filho	...	2nd Workman
Margarida Leoni Peixoto	...	Carmem
Sandra Possani	...	Nun
Raphaela Sirena	...	Saleswoman
Milene Zardo	...	Mayor's wife

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

Brazil

Language:

Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:12

Filming Locations:

Bento Gonçalves, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Company:

Casa de Cinema de Porto Alegre

Movie Connections:

Featured in Levels (2008)

Soundtrack:

Dentro al Cinema

The Monster of the Cesspool

In the small location of "Linha Cristal" ("Crystal Line") in countryside of the Rio Grande do Sul (in Southern Brazil), the locals under the leadership of Marina (Fernanda Torres), her father Otaviano Marghera (Paulo José) and her husband Joaquim (Wagner Moura) are demanding the provision of a sanitation system estimated in eight thousand Reais to clean the polluted Crystal Creek. However, in the city hall, the secretary Marcela (Janaína Kremer) explains that there is no budget available for the sewerage; however, she tells that there is a budget of ten thousand Reais for the making of a 10 minutes fiction video. The practical Marina decides to make the short to raise the money to build the sewerage, but she misunderstands the meaning of the genre fiction, believing it should be a sci-fi with monster. She writes the screenplay, using her husband in the role of the monster; her foster sister Silene (Camila Pitanga) in the lead female role; and Silene's boyfriend Fabrício (Bruno Garcia) in the role of the "good guy" and seeks sponsors. However the group does not know how to make a movie, and as far as they learn, they switch their main concern to the short forgetting the sanitation system.

"Saneamento Básico, O Filme" is a different movie of the great Brazilian director Jorge Furtado. He returns to the central theme of his successful and awarded short "Ilha das Flores" (1989), a documentary about pollution with a devastating and overwhelming social critic to the modern Brazilian society, but associated to cinema. Unfortunately the result is irregular, with good but also unnecessary moments. The plot gives lessons of how to write a screenplay, the importance of edition, production, costumes and many other phases of the making off a feature or short; criticizes the opportunism of the politicians; has an ecological message; and the acting is excellent, with a perfect Fernanda Torres. However, the story is too long and incoherent in some aspects and the conclusion is pointless; for example, the long scene of Joaquim riding his motorcycle is absolutely unnecessary and boring; Marina has college level and she does not know the meaning of fiction or mythology, but suggests genetic mutation to explain the origins of the monster; they are rednecks descendant of Italian but uses Billie Holiday in the soundtrack of the last scene of their short. Last but not the least, everybody profits with the successful short but the village ends without the aimed sewerage, and I did not understand the point. But anyway I liked this entertaining movie. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Saneamento Básico, O Filme" ("Sanitation, the Movie")