Hottoceame
The Age of Commercialism
Blake Rivera
If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
Scotty Burke
It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review
Edwin
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
tomifost
I'm giving this more stars than I normally would to counter-balance the bad reviews left by people who were only grossed out by it. I definitely can see why some people thought it to be obscene, but I think the directors choice of crassness is only one aspect of the film and criticisms of the film should keep that in mind. While many of the scenes are shocking, I didn't see them as completely non sequitur or senselessly gratuitous. Honestly, I've been more disgusted with watching local nightly news than this film. In the world we live in cows get slaughtered, angry sex can get weird, and people can be cold-blooded. I suppose I have a very liberal acceptance of film, but human beings are capable of odd and strange things; this film does not shy away from that. This is not a romantic comedy, it is an independent film based in the slums of Brazil.
Dominik Williams
I watched this as part of the Brazilian film fest here in SG. This show had good rating on IMDb so the cinema was quite packed. The cinematography and transition was very avant-garde. But that's where the praise ends.The show started off slowly and it only became slower. *spoilers* I didn't get most of the parts - the shooting of a dead man. - the killing of a young calf. - the asthmatic who used the oxygen mask for her genitals etcWhat did these all mean? Perhaps this show is esoteric and I'm not arty to understand the show. But to give it a weighted average rating of 7.2 (as of Sept 2004) is ridiculous!
guillaumebarreau
I went to see this film based on the favourable comments from other Imdb users but I hated it. I am a foreigner living in Brazil and I can tell you that if I saw Brazil the way the director does, I would be on the next plane out of here. I thought the film was insulting, showing the misery in the most degrading and despising way. I am not denying of course that this misery exists but I don't think that the lower class is as repugnant as the film wants to portray it. Religious beliefs, which probably helps a lot of poor people cope with a harsh reality, is shown as a superficial veneer on top of some badly repressed bestiality. In the middle of a film which portrays all its characters as a bunch of near animals, there is a shot where a man is reading a book by Nietzsche. Was this irony? A "clin d'oeil" of the director to his middle class audience? I didn't know what to make of this.
There have been some really good brazilian films lately (eu,tu,eles, central do Brasil,...) but this is not one of them. In fact it seems like a return to the really crap 70s brazilian films where compulsive swearing, unrealistic emotional intensity from beginning to end and any excuse to show a woman's pubic hair were the main ingredients.
Braza
If you are looking for a mellow, soft, blockbuster movie, certainly amarelo Manga is not the one. No one is assassinated in this movie, but there are really strong scenes. This does not mean that the movie is only for the strong hearted. NOT! Amarelo Manga shows how life can be yellow, not golden beautiful yellow, but mango rotten one. The plotline happens in the outskirts of Recife, capital of Pernambuco, one of the biggest cities in the Northeast, and one of the poorest region of Brazil. Five people connected in stories of love, betrayal, work, and desire. Each one with his own problems and crazyness, something that is not for from our daily reality. Even though 80% of the directing, acting, photography is amazing, the other 20% of extremely bad moments can put some people off. But, movies lovers will like this different style, something that cannot be found not only in Hollywood mainstream movies (all exactly the same), but also is not found in Woody Allen, Kiarostami, Almodovar, Rohmer, Dardeene, etc. movies. And this is why worth a lot seeing this movie: is something that is different from what you have already seen before. The whole experience is new and worthwhile, in the last 5 minutes of the movie one will have an excellent surprise, with one of the best editing and directing in Brazil film history. This movie is receiving excellent reviews from critics, and I hope it gets to theathers around the world, to open more the doors of brazilian cinema to everybody who wants to experience it.