The First Day

When I heard about the premise for "O Primeiro Dia" I was intrigued and decided to see the movie. After seeing it, I was disappointed. A plot of opposite, troubled, and interweaving lives is always interesting to me, but I found the very end to be quite anti-climatic.

A strong drama on the passage from year 1999 to 2000. Will the new year be the same or something completely different? Beautifully filmed (predictably, as it is a movie by Walter Salles!), with many great actors, it will show, between lights and darkness, the extremes in Rio de Janeiro: slum and beach, labour and party, prision and Christ the Redeemer, violence and love.

Although Walter Salles deserves praise for "Central do Brasil" ("Central Station"), "O Primeiro Dia" ("Midnight") doesn't compare. It's a depressing melange of unsympathetic characters (except for Fernanda Torres and a young deaf boy she's teaching), gratuitous violence, and bleak urban landscapes. It's also a bit of a juvenile male fantasy in the sense that the camera dwells voyeuristically on various aspects of Fernanda Torres's nude or seminude body. Why does poor Torres have to undress in such films as this and "O Judeu" ("The Jew"), while the male actors remain clothed below the waistline? Seems like a double standard to me.

"Midnight" is a powerful Brazilian drak drama with a minimal script and a gritty shoot in the slums of Rio which tells a man and a woman on a collision course with destiny. The film does not explain itself and leaves the audience to voyeuristically witness the the plight of the characters while not bothering with the "why" of it all. Artfully done, technically sound, "Midnight" is an intense 70 minute watch which will be most appreciated by foreign film fans.

a two thread story, little character depth - very short, the DVD was 72 minutes, deadpan ending.

nothing new basically

I gave it a 5 because of the acting and location.

Whatever happened to the boyfriend?

Did I miss something?