Central Station

( 2 )

Overview

Former documentary filmmaker Walter Salles Foreign Land directed this Brazilian-French road movie tracing the travels and travails of a young boy and an aging woman across the Brazilian landscape. In Rio de Janeiro's central railroad station, callous Dora leading Brazilian stage/screen actress Fernanda Montenegro works at a stand where she writes letters for a parade of poor and illiterate. Some of these remain undelivered because she chooses not to mail all of the letters. One of her customers is a woman whose ...
See more details below
This VHS (Subtitled) is Not Available through BN.com
See All Options

More About This Product

Overview

Former documentary filmmaker Walter Salles Foreign Land directed this Brazilian-French road movie tracing the travels and travails of a young boy and an aging woman across the Brazilian landscape. In Rio de Janeiro's central railroad station, callous Dora leading Brazilian stage/screen actress Fernanda Montenegro works at a stand where she writes letters for a parade of poor and illiterate. Some of these remain undelivered because she chooses not to mail all of the letters. One of her customers is a woman whose nine-year-old son, Josue Vinicius de Oliveira, hopes to see the father he has never met, but after the mother dictates two letters to the father, she's killed when hit by a bus. Since Josue is left homeless, Dora reluctantly takes him home to her small apartment overlooking the railroad tracks, where she sometimes spends time with her neighbor Irene Marilia Pera. Dora places Josue with people who claim to find adoptive parents. When Irene informs her they actually sell children who are then killed for their organs, Dora rescues Josue, and the two board a bus. After a failed attempt to abandon Josue at a roadside stop, Dora and Josue hitch a ride from a religious truck driver. Failing to locate his father, they arrive penniless at a huge rural religious convocation, where Josue suggests Dora bring her letter-writing skills back into play. The notion works, and Dora profits by writing letters to saints for the more devout among the assembled multitudes. Continuing on, they arrive at a sprawling-mass housing development -- and hopefully, a solution to the problem of a family for Josue. Young actor de Oliveira was a shoeshine boy who beat out more than 1,500 other children who auditioned or were interviewed for the Josue role. Made with grants from the Sundance Institute, NHK, and the French Ministry of Culture, this film was shown at 1998 film festivals Sundance, Berlin.
Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide - Karl Williams
Global awareness of Brazil's rebounding film community continued to grow with Central Station (1998), the third feature of Rio de Janeiro-born director Walter Salles. Oscar nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and for the performance of leading lady Fernanda de Montenegro, the film is similar to Vittorio de Sica's The Bicycle Thief (1948) in its depiction of the fragile relationship between a world-weary, cold-hearted adult and a fearful but idealistic boy. Salles's preoccupation with Brazil's economic hardships and their effect on his native society was also the basis for his previous film, Terra Estrangeira (1995), about a generation of Brazilians who have emigrated to the industrialized south or out of the country entirely, seeking greater economic opportunity. Central Station is also a tearjerker and functions effectively on a purely emotional level, due in no small part to the non-manipulative, dazzlingly subtle performance by Montenegro. Reminiscent of both the DeSica classic and of the writing of Charles Dickens, Salles' film is a tale of spiritual reawakening that calls, like many nostalgic American films, for both a new identity and a return to a place and sense of self that has been lost.
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • Release Date: 1/11/2000
  • UPC: 043396027077
  • Original Release: 1998

    • Rating:

  • Source: Sony Pictures
  • Presentation: Subtitled
  • Format: VHS

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Fernanda Montenegro Dora
Marilia Pera Irene
Vinicius de Oliveira Josue
Soia Lira Ana
Othon Bastos Cesar
Antonella Rendina
Otavio Augusto Pedrao
Stela Freitas Yolanda
Matheus Nachtergaele Isaias
Caio Junqueira Moises
Technical Credits
Walter Salles Jr. Director, Screenwriter
Cassio Amarante Production Designer
Marcos Bernstein Screenwriter
Lillian Birnbaum Executive Producer
Jean-Claude Brisson Sound/Sound Designer
Paulo Brito Associate Producer
Carla Caffe Production Designer
Cristina Camargo Costumes/Costume Designer
Joao Emanuel Carneiro Screenwriter
Walter Carvalho Cinematographer
Arthur Cohn Producer
Monica Costa Set Decoration/Design
Martine de Clermont-Tonnerre Producer
Thomas Garvin Executive Producer
Francois Groult Sound/Sound Designer
Felipe Lacerda Editor
Kátia Lund Asst. Director
Sergio Machado Casting
Jaques Morelenbaum Score Composer
Antonio Pinto Score Composer
Donald Ranvaud Executive Producer
Isabelle Rathery Editor
Elisa Tolomelli Executive Producer
Mark Van der Willigen Sound/Sound Designer
Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
( 2 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(2)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Captivating, elegant, and beyond the ordinary

    Wow. This film really stands out as a favorite. I stumbled across it at a library and what a treasure it is. I have seen it several times. It moves your heart in unexpected directions. It is authentic and poignant. A must.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    We still have hope!

    This is the kind of movie you need to watch when you want to belive that human beings are capable to love without asking anything back. It is a Drama with a good life lesson. There are some fun parts too, don't worry!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews