What a nice movie! This is one of the best Brazilian movies I have ever seen!
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Cidade de Spice Girl Power
Added 4/4/2008
A rising feminist movement is a major theme of this Brazilian film about a hip-hop Spice Girls-style singing act trying to make it in the midst of the socio-economic problems of lower class Sao Paolo. That surprised me a bit, because I wouldn't have guessed that feminism was a new idea at this point in industrialized Brazil, but I guess I just do not know that much about Brazil.
At times, Antônia - O Filme seems like a spin-off, in a manner more typical of sitcom spinoffs minus the humor, of Cidade de Deus. It occurs in the same world, with the same kinds of problems, only this time from a young woman's perspective. The "spin-off" flavor is maybe explainable by the fact that some of Cidade de Deus' production team is behind Antônia - O Filme, too, and looking at the IMDb, I see that apparently there's a television show, "Antônia", based on these same characters and using these same actors.
Friendship is also a major theme, following these Brazilian Spice Girls--named The Antônias in the film--through serious roadblocks to philia as one by one, other things intrude on their lives and they have to quit the band.
From what I can discern, at least some of the Antônias have musical careers in real life, and they're certainly good singers. With the exception of an impromptu version of "Killing Me Softly with His Song", the music they perform in the film is somewhat vacuous to my tastes, and those scenes made me feel more like I was watching a film such as Stomp the Yard, but the grittier Cidade de Deus-flavored scenes were dominant and worthwhile if not completely novel.
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Brilliant & Powerful
Added 12/5/2007
Powerful film...I saw this in LA with my girlfriend and even she liked it, and she's not normally a foreign language film lover. Great story...
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