Bruno Elias Silva (MindDazer)
People have done some terrible comments saying that it's one of the worst films they've ever seen and even telling other people not to waste their time watching it. I guess they didn't get the spirit of the film. It's NOT supposed to have a moral ending like most hollywoodian movies have. It just enters the lives of some people and how they connect at some point. The phrase in the ending reveals a lot about the meaning of the movie. It tells that there are some days that everything happens... changes are needed after some drastic events, dreams are crushed, etc. Despite that, life goes on. The world continues its existence no matter what have just happened to you and to those around you. I especially admired how the life of the butcher's wife changed after that day. From a super-religious woman, a very "correct" person, she changed to a sex maniac, thus exposing the true nature of her mind. There are some really interesting characters in this movie, with the priest being my favorite. I think his wisdom is just astonishing. Kinda anti-religious as someone commented here. Many movies have religious propaganda and you don't see anyone complaining about it. So, It's NOT a waste of time IF you watch without expectations, just "drink" the film the way it is and you'll like it.
Claudio Carvalho
In a poor neighborhood in Recife, the lives of exotic and bizarre characters entwine in a bar and in a very low-budget hotel. The queer Dunga (Matheus Nachtergaele) works in the hotel and has a crush on the butcher Wellington (Chico Diaz) that is married with the religious Kika (Dira Paes) and has an affair with his mistress Dayse (Magdale Alves). The sick necrophiliac Isaac (Jonas Bloch) owns a yellow Mercedes Benz and wants to have sex with Lígia (Leona Cavalli) that owns of Bar Avenida."Amarelo Manga" is practically the debut of director Cláudio Assis, at least this movie made him famous in Brazil, but actually is a boring exploitation of sex and low level situations. The nudity and sex scenes are absolutely unnecessary and have only the intention of shocking the audiences and most of them are free, like for example, the scenes of the asthmatic fat woman in the hotel; of the sex scene between Kika and Isaac with the hair brush; or Lígia taking her clothes off after closing her bar. I do not like this Brazilian director but many professional critics love him. The cast has great performances but the story is terrible. My vote is five.Title (Brazil): "Amarelo Manga" ("Mango Yellow")
Dominik Williams
I watched this as part of the Brazilian film fest here in SG. This show had good rating on IMDb so the cinema was quite packed. The cinematography and transition was very avant-garde. But that's where the praise ends.The show started off slowly and it only became slower. *spoilers* I didn't get most of the parts - the shooting of a dead man. - the killing of a young calf. - the asthmatic who used the oxygen mask for her genitals etcWhat did these all mean? Perhaps this show is esoteric and I'm not arty to understand the show. But to give it a weighted average rating of 7.2 (as of Sept 2004) is ridiculous!
Braza
If you are looking for a mellow, soft, blockbuster movie, certainly amarelo Manga is not the one. No one is assassinated in this movie, but there are really strong scenes. This does not mean that the movie is only for the strong hearted. NOT! Amarelo Manga shows how life can be yellow, not golden beautiful yellow, but mango rotten one. The plotline happens in the outskirts of Recife, capital of Pernambuco, one of the biggest cities in the Northeast, and one of the poorest region of Brazil. Five people connected in stories of love, betrayal, work, and desire. Each one with his own problems and crazyness, something that is not for from our daily reality. Even though 80% of the directing, acting, photography is amazing, the other 20% of extremely bad moments can put some people off. But, movies lovers will like this different style, something that cannot be found not only in Hollywood mainstream movies (all exactly the same), but also is not found in Woody Allen, Kiarostami, Almodovar, Rohmer, Dardeene, etc. movies. And this is why worth a lot seeing this movie: is something that is different from what you have already seen before. The whole experience is new and worthwhile, in the last 5 minutes of the movie one will have an excellent surprise, with one of the best editing and directing in Brazil film history. This movie is receiving excellent reviews from critics, and I hope it gets to theathers around the world, to open more the doors of brazilian cinema to everybody who wants to experience it.
AD
