Jaime (1999)

A woman takes her young son, leaves her husband and moves in with her lover. The boy, desperate to get his parents back together, becomes convinced that if only he can get his father's ... See full summary »

Director:

António-Pedro Vasconcelos

Writers:

Carlos Saboga, António-Pedro Vasconcelos

Stars:

Saúl Fonseca, Fernanda Serrano, Joaquim Leitão

7 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Saúl Fonseca	...	Jaime
Fernanda Serrano	...	Marta
Joaquim Leitão	...	Abel
Sandro Silva	...	Ulisses
Vítor Norte	...	Garcez
Guilherme Leme	...	António
Nicolau Breyner	...	Coluna
Rogério Samora	...	Gil
Zita Duarte	...	Joana
Carlos Rodrigues	...	Teófilo
Carla Maciel	...	Filó
José Pinto	...	Saúl
Pedro Efe	...	Mota
Canto e Castro	...	Motorcycle Salesman
Graça Nazaré	...	Deolinda

Storyline

A woman takes her young son, leaves her husband and moves in with her lover. The boy, desperate to get his parents back together, becomes convinced that if only he can get his father's stolen motorcycle back everything will be fine again, so he sets out to get enough money to buy his father a new one.

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Plot Keywords:

children | drugs | school | construction | swimming pool | 

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Taglines:

Os homens não se medem aos palmos

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Portugal Brazil Luxembourg

Language:

Portuguese

Release Date:

11 April 1999 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Porto 1998

Filming Locations:

Lisbon, Portugal

Box Office

Budget:

PTE 377,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fado Filmes,Instituto do Cinema, Audiovisual e Multimédia (ICAM),Samsa Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

References Bicycle Thieves (1948)

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Soundtracks

Não Me Mintas
Performed by Rui Veloso
Written by Rui Veloso and Carlos Tê

User Reviews

hard lessons for a soft viewer

To the person who commented that the movie seems to be saying that "the problem with working children is not they aren't in school or that someone is taking advantage of them but the fact they are taking the places from the grown up people" -- this is inaccurate, or rather inadequate -- that's the view of one character in the film. Taken overall, I think the film's comments on work, social relations, and exploitation are much broader: The film seems to be about how the scramble for survival amongst those on the "lower rungs" of the socioeconomic "ladder" will bring out the hardness in people and their attitude towards those around them & life in general. I read the film as saying, if you're at or near the bottom, and aren't willing or able to stomp on a few people while attempting to climb up, you're not going to make it--literally. The consequences of this "failure" might even mean death. If this sounds Dickensian, that's because it is.

Living as I do in safe, comfortable Canada, insulated from this reality, I found myself very uncomfortable witnessing how the characters dealt with each other in the film. It's as if while we are moving into the 21st century (new economy and all that, including this Web site!), many people are returning to the 19th century, or at least the conditions of the 19th century in rapidly industrializing Europe.

I was also left wondering to what degree I am contributing to this process: in an era of globalization many people from Canada (including myself) have money invested abroad (of course none of us knows where exactly) via mutual funds and all that. Particularly in the film's work scenes, I found myself thinking, my money could be involved in that construction site or that bakery...

I found this film to be a painful experience, but in a good way. I would highly recommend this film for looking at these issues unflinchingly -- if you want something escapist and fun, this is absolutely not the film for you. But I would say to the filmmakers, thanks for the dose of reality!