Cheap Bossa Nova (DVD) (Amy Irving, Antônio Fagundes) (Bruno Barreto) Price

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Customer Reviews of Bossa Nova

Mary Ann is an American widow teaching English in Rio de Janeiro. She rediscovers love with Pedro Paulo, a Brazilian lawyer. Although their love story is at the center of this film, the other characters that are intertwined in the plot make BOSSA NOVA worthy of its namesake. Like the musical genre, the movie has many layers: at the forefront, it is very sweet and simple and underneath, there is a variety of sounds and rhythms that lends it its complexity. And when its all over, it just leaves you with a wonderful free feeling. I especially enjoyed the comedy between Acacio, the soccer star and his sidekick/manager Gordo. Just hearing them trying to speak words in English, the good ones and the bad ones, with their thick Brazilian accent is worth the 20 bucks. Yet as a lover of real bossa nova, I gotta say the soundtrack is pretty weak with only modern covers of great bossa nova classics. But all in all, this is a great film and you should buy a copy of it now because you'll definately be watching it more than once.

A different kind of Brazilian movie
When I was younger, I used to wonder: how come Brazilian soap operas are so popular and Brazilian movies are considered poor? Even the so-called "good" Brazilian movies weren't appealing enough to Brazilian audiences. The answer may be that "good" Brazilian movies usually favor the background over the plot. They try to find a style of their own by making prominent use of elements of Brazilian culture, but the plot itself becomes secondary and, more often than not, boring.

That's where "Bossa Nova" succeeds: it is a simple, lightweight romantic comedy that would not be out of place in Brazilian television. The success of this movie in Brazil far exceeded everyone's expectations. Instead of blatantly displaying Brazilian landscapes and typical characters, director Bruno Barreto simply used the beauty of Rio de Janeiro as a backdrop for a story that could have happened anywhere. And yet, the magic of Rio permeates this movie in a soothing, insidious way. As Bruno says in the commentary track, he chose to portray Rio as he wished the city still were, with no violence and poverty. Interestingly, not only does Bruno speak English through the whole commentary (since he's talking to his wife Amy Irving), but he even says his own name with an American accent! Talk about fully absorbing a foreign culture!

In a word, this is the kind of Brazilian movie I used to dream of when I was a teenager: just a simple and catchy story with strong enough appeal both for Brazilian and foreign audiences.

Rio As It Should Be
I was an English teacher in Brazil so this film resonated with me-how I wish I could have afforded a large apartment in Arpoador!

The film is a classic romantic comedy in the American style, which is the only quibble I had with it. It seemed to me that they were explicitly trying to appeal to the American market and that left me feeling that there was something dishonest at the core of the film.

Nevertheless, taken on its own terms it is very pleasant with characters one can easily identify with. Its view of Rio, as a city reminiscent of Honolulu, is laugh-inducing to anyone who has lived there but still serves the film well. When the soccer player left his brand new expensive sports car in the street, without a brigade of bodyguards to watch over it, I gasped involuntarily but soon got over it.

I sound critical of Rio but really I loved it and this film evokes the best of it without getting bogged down in irrelavant social commentary.