- Actors: Fernanda Montenegro, Marília Pęra, Vinícius de Oliveira, Soia Lira, Othon Bastos
- Directors: Walter Salles
- Format: Anamorphic, Full Screen, PAL
- Language French, Portuguese
- Subtitles: French
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 2.35:1
- Classification: R (Restricted) (US MPAA rating. See details.)
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00004VY86
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Amazon.co.uk Review
In the opening scenes of Central Station, colourful crowds of Brazilians stream into and out of a Rio de Janeiro train, pushing through doors and windows. You're immediately pulled into the brutal vitality of a nation in motion, setting the tone for a picturesque road movie that charts Brazil's renaissance in a little boy's search for his father and an old woman's emotional reawakening. When we first meet Dora (Fernanda Montenegro), this frozen-hearted, sour-faced woman is the epitome of immobility: day after day, she sits in the train station selling her letter-writing skills to all comers, but often doesn't bother to mail these precious messages. When a woman who's paid Dora to write a pleading note to her son's long-missing dad gets run over by a bus, the child, Josue (Vinicius de Oliveira), is up for grabs. (The summary execution of a thieving street kid--seen in longshot--underscores the seriousness of this waif's plight.) After an abortive attempt to sell Josue for a new TV, the aspiring couch potato finds herself reluctantly propelled into an occasionally Fellini-esque odyssey through the hinterlands of Brazil's sertäo, where Dora and her sidekick find unexpected faith and family. Former documentary filmmaker Walter Salles (Foreign Land) mixes magic with realism in his appreciation of striking faces and places, but Central Station is primarily fuelled by the tough/tender performances of Montenegro, Brazil's Judi Dench, and de Oliveira, an airport shoeshine boy Salles cast over 1,500 other hopefuls. (Montenegro was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, and Central Station was in the running for Best Foreign Language Film.) No cloyingly cute child-star, de Oliveira plays Josue as a bracingly idiosyncratic brat. And watching Dora's face and soul slowly, unwillingly unclench as she gets back in motion--and emotion--is potent pleasure, even if Salles' trip does dead-end in soap opera as his Brazilian pilgrim's progress winds down. --Kathleen Murphy, Amazon.com
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What film-making is all about,
By
This review is from: Central Station [DVD] [1999] (DVD)
This is hugely impressive film-making and probably all the better for having been made in Brazil. A subtle and moving film exploring the complex relationship between a boy and a woman. Any description of the plot would fail to convey how multi-layered and compelling it is to watch (even though some reviews suggest you can't please everybody!) I was gripped throughout, a credit to Salles for avoiding the traps of over-sentimentalising or over-dramatasizing the story. Outwardly a road movie, Central Station is ultimately a story of redemption and self-discovery, acted with amazing confidence by the boy Josue (Vinicius de Oliviera) and Dora, played by the worthily Oscar-nominated Fernanda Montenegro. This is brilliant acting, totally convincing warts-and-all performances by both players. Watch this film for the acting, if nothing else. Both are survivors, tough as old boots and hardened to life's knocks. Josue's hunt for his elusive father keeps the odd couple together despite their apparent mutual antipathy and frequent departures. Like Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation, their true feelings are only revealed at the very end. Perhaps it's not the done thing to say this, but even a 40-something hard-boiled cinematic veteran like me found this moving. I was in tears more than once, something a million Hollywood tear-jerkers failed to achieve. Why? Simply, this is honest, naked and totally believable human emotion. This is what it's all about.
58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
morefilmslikethisplease,
By A Customer
This review is from: Central Station [DVD] [1999] (DVD)
This was the most moving and thought provoking film I have seen in a long time. For a film that mostly appeared to run at a calm and studied pace I was on the edge of my seat as it always had that sense of possible foreboding - you never were quite sure what was going to happen next - but you knew what you wanted to happen! The film showed that even against the odds human goodness can prevail and the characters were very, very believable. I really didn't want it to end and it is one of those films you keep replaying in your head long after it has finished! Definitely worth watching.
51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
my favourite film of all time,
This review is from: Central Station [DVD] [1999] (DVD)
when i first saw Central Station on Film Four World i immediately fell in love with it and i now have two videos of it- which i lend to everyone. This film is simply the most beautiful film you are ever likely to see- sweet, sad and funny all the way through. The actors are just fantastic-especially the main characters and the sound track is great too-once you see the film the simple but catchy music will keep playing in your head for weeks. It is a film to really savour and i would recommend it to ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE.!!!!!!!!!!!
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