| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | Central Station (1998) |
| Director | Walter Salles |
| Writer | João Emanuel Carneiro, Marcos Bernstein |
| Lead Actor | Fernanda Montenegro |
| Cast | Fernanda Montenegro, VinÃcius de Oliveira, MarÃlia Pêra, Soia Lira, Othon Bastos |
| Genre | Drama |
| Release Date | January 16, 1998 (Brazil) |
| Duration | 1h 50m |
| Budget | $2.9 million |
| Language | Portuguese |
| IMDb Rating | 8.0/10 |
CENTRAL STATION is a film about a cynical adult saved by a chance relationship with an innocent child. This Oscar-nominated Brazilian (best foreign) film recalls humanist Italian classics (especially Fellini’s La Strada). It mixes intriguing characters, religious allegory and imagery with gritty back-roads realism.
The 50-ish protagonist Dora (Brazil’s top actress and Oscar-nominee Fernanda Montenegro) is an unmarried ex-teacher. She scrapes a living writing letters for illiterates at Rio’s teeming city rail station. The letters are about problems, hopes and dreams, repetitive, often foolish she’s the intermediary for prayers or pleas for help. Dora takes the money but doesn’t mail the letters she reads them with her friend.
One of her customers is killed in a poignant accident, and Josue, the woman’s 10 year old son, won’t go away. He’s played by luminous-faced Vinicius de Oliveira, discovered by director Walter Salles as a shoeshine boy at the Rio airport.
At first Dora tries to sell him for what she thinks is adoption by rich Americans. Armed only with an address on a letter, Dora reluctantly takes Josue back into the bleak countryside to find his father, Jesus, a carpenter whom she fears is an abuser.
Love grows between the worldly-wise woman and the skeptical kid. Events and characters are full of religious symbolism. They keep searching for Jesus it seems like a modern search for God.
Dora and Josue find the boy’s brothers, and their father’s promise in a letter that he’ll return. The meaning may be that God still loves us. In any case, it’s a celebration of hope.
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