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Actors: Wagner Moura, Claudia Abreu
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Middle of the World |
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The film is set in vast territory of Northern Brazil, where we meet a large, loving yet poor family of a husband, wife and five children. Romão, the father, is illiterate and unemployed yet feels like going to Rio de Janeiro in pursuit of a job and a decent life so that he can feed his family. Without a second thought, the family of seven find themselves on a journey 2,000 miles across the hinterlands of Brazil on the most unlikely of vehicles…a bike.
Along the way, Romão and his wife Rose face all sorts of physical and emotional hardships, that are in many ways true to the function of a typical family, the main challenge being their oldest son Antônio, a young teenager trying to find his place in life. Throughout their expedition to Rio, the family must beg, and do odd jobs which include singing in outdoor cafés, scrounging in old abandoned homes, becoming a part of a performing circus, and making hammocks. The family seems to find themselves having to move on after Antônio gets himself into trouble, such as his persistent admiration for a prostitute, and his defensive attitude towards anyone who challenged him or his family. Romão exercises patient parental control through mild rebukes and testing Antonio's mettle by letting him use his own judgment and make mistakes, but he also subtly guides him with silent looks of acknowledgement. Rose, the mother, gives equal guidance by emphasizing caution but also gives him a sense of profound motherly love that becomes his base of security.
Eventually, along their trip, Romão comes across a job opening for a brick layer in a small town. He feels that Antônio is ready to set off on his own, and when rose resists Romão simply replies "We do not own our children." Once Antônio is left behind to follow his job, the strong and positive family dynamically continue on their journey.
--Sarah M., Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of The Middle of the World |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1980's-1999
Road trip
Yes
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Poverty story?
Yes
Poverty plotlets:
- coping with poverty (general)
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- unemployed
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard wavey
Body type
- (man) muscular
Unclothed?
- Chest
Events of movie makes character more...
- happy
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Hispanic/Latinic
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- very athletic
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard wavey
Body type
- (man) very skinny
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Hispanic/Latinic
Setting
The Americas (not US):
Yes
The Americas:
- South
City?
Yes
City:
- dangerous
Misc setting
- bar
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- thoughtful
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references only
- seeing nude female butt
Non-American film?
Yes
Subtitles?
- Yes
Any profanity?
- Some foul language
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Sarah M.
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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