Brazilians share pride in movie's nominations

By Cristina Coleman-Rosa
Special to The Advertiser

•	'City of God' Directed by Fernando Meirelles In Portuguese with English subtitles Based on a novel by Paulo Lins Rated R

In reality, international recognition of Brazilian film industry and culture has come a long way since Carmen Miranda's first appearance on the silver screen. Following that trail, on Fat Tuesday, I walked downtown Honolulu in search of members of the Brazilian community to talk about "City of God," language, and Oscar night.

The response varied, some enthusiastic, others critical, but all proud of the movie's multiple nominations.

"I was very happy when I heard about the Oscars nominations," said Cristiane Silva, 26, editor of the magazine Journey. "It is very important for Brazilians living abroad to have the opportunity to watch national films made back home, as they consolidate traces of our own culture. They help us understand what it is to be a Brazilian." Silva predicts an increase in the number of Brazilian motion pictures in the United States, as the Oscar frenzy opens the doors for Brazilian and Latin-American productions.

For the Brazilian writer Tatiana Araujo, 29, "the nominations, themselves, were a victory to Brazilian film industry." Araujo says the dialogue in films such as 'City of God' convey more than a plot. "The accents, the rhythms and even the Portuguese grammatical mistakes help us understand where the characters come from, and that would be very hard to translate."

A film buff from Sao Paulo currently in Hale'iwa, Diogo Molina G—is, 26, pushes the topic even further. "The Oscar nominations this year are, in a way, the Academy's apology for not choosing 'City of God' among the best foreign films last year," he says.

Molina G—is explains that while foreign movies are nominated for the Best Foreign Film by their country of origin, the other categories are "lobbied" for by interests within the U.S. film industry. As he sees it "Miramax, and not Brazil, won the battle."

During Nu'uanu Street's Mardi Gras block party, I met Marcos Santos, 33, a Brazilian entrepreneur living in Honolulu for more than 12 years. He, too, was "really proud of watching a movie so well done in Portuguese."

Santos, born in Rio de Janeiro, said that for him it was interesting to revisit and better understand the surroundings of the place he once lived in.

Ligia Leite Cortez, 22, a psychology student at Hawai'i Pacific University born in Goiania, Brazil, stopped dancing to her favorite Brazilian tune to say, "Brazilian culture is much more than just samba ... and Carnival," and,

" 'City of God' showed another side of that: violent, but true."

Cortez noted that in Brazil, viewers celebrated the film as a critical look at unpolished reality, while Americans were shocked and appalled by the gratuitous violence. As she observed, here many left the theaters before the lights were up.

University of Hawai'i student Eric Rosenfield, 32, an American who spent part of his youth in Brazil, doesn't agree that the film's image is "true." For Rosenfield, " 'City of God' is an interesting and well-made film, but it gives the (erroneous) impression that the ghettos (favelas) are a constant war zone."

Rosenfield, known for his "Axe Brazi," a weekly radio show on KTUH, suggests the exoticism and violence of the film were a winning combination. The language barrier "on one hand, made it a little difficult for Americans to understand, but, on the other hand, the exotic aspects of films like that attract a lot of people. It is a new experience they don't know but are fascinated with."

Brazilian Luis Antonio, a 24-year-old HPU student, said watching a Brazilian movie here "was really cool ... but strange," reminding him of how in Sao Paulo he, as most Brazilians, used to "read" movies (subtitles), instead of just listening to them. "During 'City of God,' I would catch myself in between, reading the English subtitles and just listening to the Portuguese ... confused."

It is undeniable that translations of foreign movies have improved immensely. Agencies such as Miramax pay careful attention to ensure that subtitles become seamless with the dialogue and don't distract the viewer.

"For the majority of Brazilians," concludes Rodrigo Bittar, 39, a Brazilian journalist on vacation in Hawai'i, "until not too long ago, national productions (filmes nacionais) in general were synonymous with eccentric endeavors or pornography. Boring or trash. But recently, a combination of technology, superior craft and incentives generated a rebirth of our film industry, with productions Brazilians can relate to on different levels," and despite criticisms, "they are willing to pay to watch life as it is."