Review: Central Station (1998)

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Central Station

Rating

Director

Walter Salles

Screenplay

Marcos Bernstein, João Emanuel Carneiro, Walter Salles

Length

1h 50m

Starring

Fernandda Montenegro, Marília Pêra, Vinícius de Oliveira, Soia Lira, Othon Bastos, Otávio Augusto, Stela Freitas, Matheus Nachtergaele, Caio Junqueira

MPAA Rating

Basic Plot

An old woman must take care of a young boy whether she wants to or not.

Review

Crotchety old women have been a popular theme in films for years. From “Trip to Bountiful” and “Driving Miss Daisy” to “Guarding Tess,” various famous actresses have found popularity in their later years. Now, One of Brazil’s most popular actresses is in another motion picture about an old woman that develops a heart of gold.

We first meet Dora (Fernanda Montenegro) in a train station where she writes letters for people who can’t do it themselves. She receives dozens of requests a day, but none of them really stick with her, except for one. A young mother and her son want to write a letter to her ex-husband. She hasn’t seen him in a long time and wants to write a rather harsh letter.

She takes the letter and heads home. There she pours them all out on the table and she and her friend, Irene (Marilia Pera), start going through the letters, opening them, criticizing what is written in them and then put them away in a drawer, refusing to even send them.

The next day, the mother and son return. She changed her mind and wants to write a kinder letter. This time her son wants to meet his father, even if she does not. She asks Dora to write a new letter to send. Dora takes the letter as usual and the mother and son leave. On their way out, he drops something in the middle of the street and goes back to get it while his mother stands there waiting as a bus comes along and takes her life.

The young boy, Josue (Vinicius de Oliveira), without his mother, stays around the station, sleeping in the halls and stealing food to eat. Dora eventually feels sorry for the boy and takes him home with her. She originally decides to sell him to an adoption broker who sells children to American families illegally. She takes the money and buys a new television, which she watches with Irene that night.

In the morning, she looks back on the decision with regret and goes to retrieve him, risking her own life. They then begin a cross-country journey to find Josue’s father.

“Central Station” is a wonderful little movie filled with great emotion and great performances. Montenegro gives a wonderful performance that falls just shy of Cate Blanchett’s mesmerizing performance earlier this year in “Elizabeth.”

Better than this year’s other high-profile foreign language film, :Life Is Beautiful,” “Central Station” fails in only one respect: pace. The film runs slow from beginning to end, but has enough human emotion mixed in so as not to distract too much.

“Central Station” is a tender and charming Brazilian film. It probably won’t visit many small towns, but is worth a view on home video.