I only got introduced to the colorful Brazilian culture last year. Not only I made friends with fellow Brazilian students at the school, butalso had an opportunity to watch Brazilian films at the 7th Los Angeles Brazilian Film Festival – LABRFF. This is when I realized that the Brazilian culture is similar to mine, the Indian culture. We are vibrant, colorful, have differences and yet learn to co-exist.It felt like our cultures have a lot in common.This year, I had made it a point to watch as manyBrazilian films as I could at the festival . And I’m glad I did.
Poster by Artist Jabu
Brazil My Love truly was hard hitting. This was straight into our face. While watching the film, I put myself into one of the characters’s life. It is not for faint hearts or those who want to mask their existence in hypocrisy. This film is honest, brutal and leaves us with an introspection of how we are dealing with our identity crisis as foreigners living in America.I can relate with these feelings of anger and resentment. Also the fact that I’m a lot more content living in the States. Picture by Ana Silvani
The director of the film uses open argument, anger, bitterness and sex as an analogy to bare open the Brazilian spirit to the naked truths which confront them every single day. Who are we? American?Brazilian? Brazilian American or American Brazilian?
Both men and women have similar and conflicting perspectives. They agree and agree to disagree, and some stick to their own contradictions. The dialogues are natural. You can feel that they are coming out of the Brazilian gut. It really meant a lot to me. It made me think. All my life I felt like a western spirit trapped in a eastern body. Most importantly dealing with all the hypocrisy, corruption and external conflict has never been easy.
One of the characters points out about the basic etiquette which Brazilians
often tend to ignore. The lack of respect for privacy is another thing. And
like many foreigners in this country, we are also the targetsto discrimination and stereotypes.
I highly recommend the producers and thedirector and the entire team who stood up to tell this story. It’s a burning and universal issue to anyone who either moved from their home country or were born here in America.
The actors played out well. They are believable and they bare open their
insecurities to this vulnerable and sensitive topic of the geographic identity crisis.
A must watch if you want to go the path of self discovery.
