O Menino da Porteira (2009)

O Menino da Porteira: Directed by Jeremias Moreira Filho. With Daniel, Vanessa Giácomo, José de Abreu, Jottapê Carvalho. 1950s. At the village of Rio Bonito, cowboy Diogo leads a horde of oxen to the Ouro Fino Ranch. When passing by the Remanso Farm, he meets Rodrigo, a boy who dreams of becoming a cowboy. Soon they become friends and witnesses of the wrong doings that happen in the region due to Major Batista’s greed. The major orders his thugs to blackmail the local residents, in a way they sell the cattle by the price he wants. The situation changes when Otacílio Mendes, Rodrigo’s father, decide to rebel himself, counting on Dr. Almeida’s help.

“This is the story of a small and isolated cattle farming community in a remote part of Brazil, in the first half of the 20th century. A roaming cowboy befriends the very young son of one of the small cattle farmers; the boy sees him as a hero. But all is not well in the community. The mayor has a financial stranglehold on the other cattle breeders by forcing them to sell their cattle through him to the abattoir. When the farmers revolt against this, there are dire consequences… The cowboy protagonist, too, unwillingly gets involved in the strife.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt is a rather simple story, with, unfortunately, a predictable ending. Acting is slightly above average, whilst I found the cinematography to be quite good. My biggest criticism against the film is the excessive singing of cowboy songs, guitar in hand. Give them half a chance and they sing, ad nauseam. The syrupy songs detract quite seriously from the film. The copy of the film I saw had subtitles in the worst slangy kind of a-la-American cowboy-English. It may work for a film shot on a ranch in the south of the US, but in this Brazilian film it is totally inappropriate. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMy verdict? This is a somewhat interesting but flawed film. I would not go out of my way to find it. 5/10.”