Central Station

Brazil   d/Walter Salles

Touching, well done film about an unlikely friendship between a 50ish woman and a 10yo boy. She is a letter writer, he is a recently orphaned street kid in Rio. She agrees to take him to a remote province to connect with his father. The film is their road trip...and their coming together.

The film was helped immeasurably by the acting of veteran Fernanda Montenegro. Her worn, expressive face conveys a lifetime of suffering and loneliness. The boy is brash, self-possessed but vulnerable in a world he only dimly understands.

Film makes good use of Brazil's spectacular scenery and provincial practices. A winner.

8