Cultural Pulse

Plays, movies &
best-seller books 

PLAYS

RIO

Buda (Buddha)—Comedy. Decided to get a man she loves, a young woman appeals to religion. Monologue by Clarice Niskier. Directed by Domingos Oliveira, with Clarice Niskier.

Comemorando? (Celebrating?)—A guest is kidnapped and tortured during a party. None of the guests, however, does anything to stop the violence. Written and directed by Denise Weinberg with actors just graduated from CAL (Casa de Artes de Laranjeiras).
O Homem sem Sentidos (No-Senses Man)—A man chooses to go into complete isolation and finds a world full of questions and conflicts. Written by Patrícia Mess, directed by Elisa Barbato, with André Junqueira.
Nervos de Deus (Nerves of God)—Based on German judge Daniel Paul Schreber's Memoirs of My Nervous Illness. Sigmund Freud, who read the book, was inspired by it to include paranoia as one of the psychic manifestations psychoanalysis deals with. Written and directed by Eugênia Thereza de Andrade, with Cássio Brasil, Carlos Alberto Escher, Jorge Luiz Alves, and Maíra de Andrade.

Assassinaram a Película (They Murdered the Motion Picture)—Comedy.. Passed their prime, a group of actors appeal to fiction in the hope they'll be stars again one day. Written by Rodrigo Shimidtz, directed by André Rangel, with Alex Bakalla, Christian Bruno, Leandro Tassi and Filipe Marinho.

Sobre Um (About One)—Show including music, dance and poetry, deals with the body and its symbolic representations. Written by Rô Lobato, directed by Ney Matogrosso with the group O Nome.

Mamãe Não Pode Saber (Mom Cannot Know)—Comedy. Family deep in debt gets ready to receive the visit of the matriarch, who lives in Europe and is quite wealthy. Written and directed by João Falcão. With Vladimir Brichta, Lázaro Ramos, Edmilsom Barros, Drica Moraes, and Alessandra Maestrini.

SÃO PAULO

Não Me Contes Verdades  (Don't Tell Me Truths)—Comedy. A group of people are shown talking while waiting to be seen by a doctor in a free medical clinic. Written by Tácito Rocha, directed by Luiz Serra and Marcus Cardelíquio, with Ênio Gonçalves, José Ferro, Vânia Barboni, and Lourdes de Moraes.
O Homem do Sobretudo Escuro  (The Man on the Dark Overcoat)—Drama. Based on several short stories by Agatha Christie. A young couple, which owns a boarding house in England, receives the visit of the police while waiting for some guests. Directed by Silvio Tadeu and Iná Carvalho, with Tereza Penteado, Silvio Bisterso, and André Ruffo.

A Casa de Bernarda Alba  (The House of Bernarda Alba)—Drama. Widow locks her five young daughters for eight years, but, deprived of sex and love, they rebel and start a fierce confrontation with their mother. Text by Federico Garcia Lorca, directed by Ione de Medeiros, with Grupo Oficcina Multimédia.

Como Se Fazia um Deputado (How We Used to Make a Representative). Comedy of costumes. In 19^th Century Rio, two politicians decide to fabricate a candidate to win the elections, using Henrique, a young lawyer, for that. Written by França Júnior and directed by Felippe Correa, with Adilson Pereira, Gildo Fontolan, Robson Stancov, Patrícia Bispo and Sandra Nagy.

Quem Não Tem Cão Caça com Gato (There's More Than One Way to Skin a Cat) Young Miroaldo leaves his small town to try his luck in São Paulo as a country singer. Things start to get messy and funny when he decides he does not want to be a star anymore and his twin brother Riroaldo takes his place. Written by Eduardo Lipiane, directed by Sebastião Apolônio, with Afonso Nigro (from defunct band Dominó), Monica Lopez e Fernando Lyra Júnior.

Réveillon (New Year's Eve). Tragicomedy. One day (December 31, 1973) in the life of a middle-class family from São Paulo. Written by Flávio Márcio (1945-1979) this play has been staged in 13 countries and has received several awards. It talks about the fears and anxiety of the modern man. Directed by Michel Bercovitch, with Bianca Byington, Rui Rezende, Malu Valle, Gilberto Hernandez and Guilherme Sarmento.

Cachorro! (Dog!)—Dramedy. The peace of three men living under a bridge is disturbed when a woman shows up looking for her dog during a winter night. Written and directed by Ênio Gonçalves. With Emerson Ribeiro, Ênio Gonçalves, José Ferro, and Mara Faustino.
 

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MOVIES

Just-released or re-released English-language movies:

Ice Age (A Era do Gelo), Soul Survivors (Alucinação), The Powerpuff Girls (As Meninas Superpoderosas - O Filme), Austin Powers in Goldmember (Austin Powers - O Homem do Membro de Ouro), Dancing at the Blue Iguana (Divas de Blue Iguana), Divine Secrets of Ya-Ya Sisterhood (Divinos Segredos), Bad Company (Em Má Companhia), Changing Lanes (Fora de Controle), Star Wars: Episode 2 - Attack of the Clones (Guerra nas Estrelas: Episódio 2 - O Ataque dos Clones), Spiderman (Homem-Aranha), Mib 2 (Homens de Preto 2), Insomnia (Insônia), Lilo & Stitch (Lilo & Stitch), On the Line (Na Linha do Trem), Snow Dogs (Neve pra Cachorro), People I Know (O Articulador), The Hole (O Buraco), The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (O Escorpião de Jade), One Hour Photo (Retratos de uma Obsessão), Rollerball (Rollerball), Scooby-Doo (Scooby-Doo),Signs (Sinais), Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (Spirit - O Corcel Indomável), Super Troopers (Supertiras),Life as a House (Tempo de Recomeçar), Triple X (Triplo X), The Sweetest Thing (Tudo para Ficar com Ele)

Paixão de Jacobina (Jacobina's Passion)—Brazil/2002—Based on Videiras de Cristal (Crystal Vines) a book by Luiz Antonio de Assis Brasil. Jacobina is a young healer who preaches that people can save their souls by searching for equality and happiness. She foresees that the world will be consumed by purifying flames. Directed by Fábio Barreto, with Letícia Spiller, Thiago Lacerda, Alexandre Paternost, Antonio Calloni, and Caco Ciocler.

Cidade de Deus (City of God)—Brazil/2002—Based on Paulo Lins's novel of same name. An inside picture of Rio's favela Cidade de Deus. How Dadinho e Buscapé grow up in world of drugs and crime. Directed by Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund, with unknown actors, including Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino da Hora, Seu Jorge, Matheus Nachtergaele, and Phellipe Haagensen.

Abril Despedaçado (Broken April, Behind the Sun in the English Version)—Brazil-Switzerland-France/2001—Based on Albanian author Ismail Kadaré's book Broken April. In the Brazilian Northeast, following a family tradition, a young man is compelled to avenge his brother's murder. The youngster, however, decides to question this blood code. Directed by Walter Salles, with Rodrigo Santoro, José Dumont, and Rita Assemany.

Uma Onda no Ar (A Wave in the Air)—Brazil/2002—It seems like a war in the big favela (shantytown). The police start to go up the hill while a pirate radio station tells the population how to react. It's the radio station that the police are looking for. Directed by Helvécio Ratton, with Alexandre Moreno, Adolfo Moura, Babu Santana, Benjamim Abras, Priscila Dias, Edyr Duqui.

O Príncipe (The Prince)—Brazil/2002—After living two decades in Paris, Gustavo comes back to São Paulo, his hometown, and finds out that he doesn't know anything and anyone anymore. Directed by Ugo Giorgetti, with Eduardo Tornaghi, Bruna Lombardi, Ricardo Blat, Otávio Augusto, and Ewerton de Castro.

Janela da Alma (Window of the Soul)—Brazil/2001—Directed by João Jardim and Walter Carvalho. With interviews with musician Hermeto Pascoal, writer José Camargo and filmmaker Wim Wenders, this documentary probes how blind people and those with sight problems deal with the world.

As Três Marias (The Three Marys)—Brazil/2002— Woman goes into a revenge spree and hires some hit men after her ex-husband kills her new husband and her children. Directed by Aluizio Abranches, with Marieta Severo, Julia Lemmertz, Maria Luisa Mendonça, Luiza Mariani.
 

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BEST-SELLER BOOKS

FICTION

1. A Intimação (Rocco) John Grisham (1 _ 5)

2. Todas as Histórias do Analista de Bagé (Objetiva) Luis Fernando Veríssimo (0 - 0)

3. As Mentiras Que os Homens Contam (Objetiva) Luis Fernando Veríssimo (3 _90)

4. Sexo na Cabeça (Objetiva) Luis Fernando Veríssimo (2 _ 16)

5. Os Bórgias (Record) Mario Puzo (4 _ 6)

6. Harry Potter e o Cálice de Fogo (Rocco) J.K. Rowling (5 _ 61)

7. Harry Potter e a Câmara Secreta (Rocco) J.K. Rowling (8 _ 102)

8. Harry Potter e o Prisioneiro de Azkaban (Rocco) J.K. Rowling (7 _ 84)

9. Harry Potter e a Pedra Filosofal (Rocco) J.K. Rowling (9 - 117)

10. O Casamento (Record) Danielle Steel (6 _ 4)

NONFICTION

1. A Semente da Vitória (Senac) Nuno Cobra (1 _ 66)

2. Quem Mexeu no Meu Queijo? (Record) Spencer Johnson (2 _ 92)

3. Estação Carandiru (Cia. das Letras) Drauzio Varella (3 _ 133)

4. Felipão, a Alma do Penta (Zero Hora) Ruy Carlos Ostermann (0 _ 0)

5. O Sentido da Vida (Sextante) Bradley Trevor Greive (4 _ 9)

6. A Casa da Mãe Joana (Campus) Reinaldo Pimenta (5 _ 9)

7. Cidade de Deus (Companhia das Letras) Paulo Lins (0 _ 0)

8. Um Dia Daqueles (Sextante) Bradley Trevor Greive (7 _ 72)

9. O Universo numa Casca de Noz (Mandarim) Stephen Hawking (9 _ 40)

10. Você É Insubstituível (Sextante) Augusto Jorge Cury (8 - 11)

The first number inside the parentheses tells the position the book was in the previous week. The second number indicates for how many weeks the book is in the list.

According to Isto É Gente - Sep 30, 2002 www.istoegente.com.br  

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