7/10
A Tale of Loneliness of Three Women
25 February 2007
In Vitória, the middle-age piano teacher Gertrudes (Norma Bengell) sublets her apartment to two younger women, the unstable Lúcia (Lucélia Santos) and the nurse Madalena (Maria Zilda Bethlem). Gertrudes misses and daydreams her former love and has a motherhood relationship with Lúcia; Madalena has a promiscuous life, having one night stand with the most different men every day and her behavior is criticized by Gertreudes; and Lúcia is dreamer that manipulates Gertrudes and expects that the handyman Alfredo (Marcos Frota) becomes her prince charming. Their conflictive relationship ends when Madalena discloses their inner feelings and secrets to each other.

"Vagas Para Moças de Fino Trato" is an adaptation of a successful play of Alcione Araujo to the cinema. This intimate tale of loneliness is supported by the performances of three great Brazilian actresses, the icon Norma Bengell, Lucélia Santos and Maria Zilda Bethlem, whose characters have the most different personalities. The daily situations, some of them quite surrealistic, show the emptiness of their lives, in a dramatic but never depressed film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Vagas Para Moças de Fino Trato" ("Vacancies for Genteel Girls")
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