[ Honors 336 ]

Central do Brasil [Central Station], (Brasil, Walter Salles, 1998)

Cast: Fernanda Montenegro        ....         Dora

Marília Pêra       ....          Irene

Vinícius de Oliveira       ....          Josué

Soia Lira             ....          Ana

Othon Bastos     ....          Cesar

Otávio Augusto               ....          Pedrão

Stela Freitas       ....          Yolanda

Matheus Nachtergaele   ....          Isaías

Caio Junqueira  ....          Moisés

Director: Walter Salles

Length: 113 minutos

Sound: Dolby

Country: Brasil

Director: Walter Salles

Language: Portuguese

Color:Color

Sound: Dolby

Script: Marcos Bernstein, João Emanuel Carneiro & Walter Salles

Photography: Walter Carvalho

Editing: Felipe Lacerda & Isabelle Rathery

Sound Director: Jean-Claude Brisson, François Groult, Bruno Tarrière & Mark A. Van Der Willigen

Make up: Antoine Garabedian

Customs: Cristina Camargo

Artistic Director: Walter Salles

Postproduction Sound:

Music: Jacques Morelembaum, Antonio Pinto

Executive Producer:

Producer: Le Studio Canal+ [FR], MACT Productions [FR], Riofilmes [BR], Videofilms

Questions of analysis:

1.           Comment on the film first three scenes

2.           Comment on the cinematographic techniques used by the director to characterize Dora at the beginning of the film.

3.           Whose story is it?

4.           What stands out more the human or the social message?

5.           Is the final "happy"? For both, Dora and Josué?

6.           Comment on the film's social context.

7.           Elaborate on the photography.

8.           How is the aesthetic experience affected by reading subtitles.

9.           Are there camera movements (long shots, high angles, close-ups, fade-in, fade-out, special effects and so forth) that aid the directors emphasize the film’s main message?

10.         List three sequences that you consider the movie’s most important scenes.

11.         How are the characters developed? Do they evolve (or don’t) throughout the film?

12.         Whose focalization does the director use to present the story?

13.         How is the city presented?

14.         Is there a coherent message? What is it?

15.         Is this a theme or technique film? Is more important to present/tell a story or to experiment technically?