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'Lower City' will wear on you pretty quickly

Andy Orrock | Dallas, TX | 03/06/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The first six plot keywords in IMDB sum up - in an unintentionally humorous way - the essence of 'Lower City':

* Cockfighting
* Nudity
* Blood
* Sex
* Boat
* Prostitute

Yup, that's basically your entire movie right there. It's not the type of film you want to watch while your mother-in-law visits, because it's a real seat squirmer. In fact, another reviewer on these pages made mention of being at "Lower City's" premiere and passed along the observation that there was a lot of seat-squirming in the audience. No doubt.

While I think the film does a fantastic job showing depicting the squalid underbelly of a teeming Bahia, the 'plot' is sort of a loop of those key words - the characters have a boat; they meet a prostitute; they have sex on the boat; they go to a cockfight; they fight there and there's a lot of blood; they go back to the boat; they have sex; there's a fight; they have sex. At the end of the movie, they fight, there's a lot of blood, and the prostitute cleans them up. You get the idea.

I salute Alice Braga for her bravery here in this role. She really leaves nothing to the imagination. And I really liked Wagner Moura ('Naldinho'), who struck me as a Brazilian Mark Ruffalo, both in terms of looks (a striking resemblance) and acting chops. But, there's not much of a plot here. I think 'Lower City' will wear on you pretty quickly."

At least the heat of this film does jumps out at you.

Jenny J.J.I. | That Lives in Carolinas | 11/09/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Lower City" was quite good. As a whole, I enjoyed this film but was far from being blown away. All three of the leads are give an opportunity to make an impression. The script however, leaves a bit to be desired. After watching this yesterday the movies that came to mine was City of God/ Amores Perros/ Y Tu Mama Tambien simply because it was to be expected. It is one of the good films that had recently came out of South America. However, "Lower City" doesn't quite live up to its comparative brothers but does manage to create a feel of its own. I empathized with each of the characters and felt they were played brilliantly by the actors involved. There was a real sense of raw passion with the helplessness of the poverty/ crime lifestyle they find themselves in.

In this film we have two childhood friends, Deco (Lazaro Ramos) and Naldinho (Wagner Moura) whom both meet Karinna (Alice Braga), a stripper looking for a cheap ride to the city of Salvador, in exchange for sexual favours with the boys. Deco first, and Naldinho later, fall in love for Karinna, who likes both of them, forming a triangle of love and jeopardizing the friendship of Deco and Naldinho. "Cidade Baixa" is a real and cruel triangle of love, having the landscape of the red light district in the lower zone of Salvador and the environment of hopeless people that lives in the limit of the marginality of the society, prostituting, robbing, and fighting for surviving. The plot is actually unpredictable, with many possibilities and an open end. But the great surprise is the unknown actress Alice Braga, niece of Sonia Braga, performing a very erotic and searing character and dignifying the name of her aunt.

Even though this is a low budget movie it exhales sexual tension and mild eroticism. The pace of the story does dips in the middle but the end delivers excitement and resolution. If you are a fan of Brazilian movies like myself, this is a must watch since it's casted by two of the new generation of great Brazilian actors.
"

Where's the droop? not in this film

Santoguerreira | S. Florida | 09/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was fotunate to see this movie with Ms. Braga and director at the Miami Film Festival last February. Gritty? yes if you grew up in suburban America behind a mall. The real streets of Salvador are alot more dangerous when not being filmed. The sexual tension was maintained to the point of making many in the audience squirm in their seats.
I really loved the story and Braga was outstanding. She recieved a standing ovation at the screening."