Review: Linha de Passe

[Here's a review I did of the Brazilian film Linha De Passe for t5m]

Linha De Passe literally translates from Portuguese as “Line of Passage”, yet in Brazil it means so much more. In English, it is a phrase that would colloquially translate as a Brazilian kids game similar to keep-uppy (a game with a football where the aim is to juggle the ball without it touching the ground), and this is what we witness in an early scene, as a game of Linha De Passe between the four brothers and central characters of the film sets the scene for what is to come. This child-like game is an important metaphor for Walter Salles (the Brazilian director better known for The Motorcycle Dairies and the critically acclaimed Central Station), and it is one that emanates throughout the entire film. Salles film is set in a poverty-stricken and football-crazed area in Sao Paulo, and follows the tribulations of struggling single mother Cleuza (Sandra Corveloni) as she tries to keep her four sons – and herself for that matter – out of the dangerous and corrupt undercurrents that flow through the sprawling metropolis of Sao Paulo.

The eldest son is a womanizing motorbike courier - one of literally thousands in the city - who considers turning to crime in order to pay child-support to the mother of his baby. Next is a 19-year-old blessed with footballing skills that just might pull himself and his family out of the favela one day. Third in line is a bible-basher by day, gas station attendant by night, who struggles to satiate his teenage desires and reconcile his religion with his surroundings. The youngest is a school skipping pre-pubescent who wants nothing more than to find his father, a mulatto (black) that he sees as the only one who could explain why his skin is darker than the rest of his siblings.

The story is schematically pieced together as we simultaneously pursue the four boys lives on an individual level, and this provides the viewer with an unheralded gaze into the reality of life in a Sao Paulo favela. Unlike the wildly popular City of God, there are no drug dealing gun-toting gangs here. Salles resists the Hollywood-esque dramatization and romanticized violence that made City of God so controversial in Brazil. Instead, we are faced with something all to real; an honest family that are individually doing their very best to survive and make a living.

This is not to say it isn't a beautifully shot and edited film. Some of the football scenes are simply some of best scenes of their ilk shot to date. Sandra Corveloni, as the mother Creuza, puts in a bewildering performance in her first feature film at the tender age of 43, and eagerly deserved her Best Actress gong at Cannes. The four boys, who were all unknown actors in their first film, are equally convincing. This unknown quantity allowed Salles to place his actors into real-life situations, whether it be at football trials or in the football stadiums and the streets of Sao Paulo itself. This almost overwhelming sensation of reality is not new in Brazilian cinema, and derived from the 60s Brazilian political movement of Cinema Novo (a movement heavily influenced by Italian Neo-Realism), where directors shunned studios and brought their hand-held cameras into the streets themselves.

Unfortunately, Linha De Passe is slightly let down by its fractured ending. Not to give it away, but it is not the kind of ending that will go down well with Western viewers accustomed to a Hollywood ending that covers all bases (but this is probably a good thing).

Returning to the films central metaphor though, at the end we witness once again what we witnessed at the beginning, a sort of juggling act between the brothers, as they all attempt - in their own individual way - to not let the ball hit the ground. In short, Linha De Passe is a superbly realistic viewpoint into favela life and poverty in Brazil. It tells a story that would normally fall by the wayside. A story too dreary for Hollywood, it is nonetheless a story that needs to be told.