Roberto Carlos a 300 Quilômetros por Hora

This is not an actor's film but a musician's one, such as those starred by Elvis Presley or by The Beatles. Singer and composer Roberto Carlos is very famous in Brazil and collected hits in the 60's and 70's. This is his last film and the only one in which his character was not himself. "300 Kilometers/hour" is an underdog car racing movie (the mechanic wants to win a car race and impress the girls he loves), full of clichés, merchandising and a pinch of sexism. The worst moment is not central, but politically important and unforgivable: the character portrayed by singer Erasmo Calos - the main partner of Roberto Erasmo Carlos in his career projects - shouts "Hail Brazil! Love it or leave it!"; "Love it or leave it" was the slogan of military dictatorship, which was in its most violent moment when the film was launched. Though, the movie is neither bad, nor as predictable as it seems at first sight (the end is not fantastic but surprisingly interesting). Some of the actors - Raul Cortez, who portrays the boss and pilot, Reginaldo Faria, the owner of the broken car, and Flávio Miggliacio, who plays the truck driver - were among the best in the country. For car lovers, it may be attractive to see in this film the red Avallone Chrysler or the orange Dodge Charger R/T 1971.

In São Paulo, the successful Brazilian race car pilot and businessman Rodolfo (Raul Cortez) has recovered from an accident and will return to the races on the next Grand Prix of Interlagos. Rodolfo owns the garage Ibiapuera Veículos and is engaged of Luciana (Libânia Almeida). His mechanic Lalo (Roberto Carlos) has a crush on Luciana and dreams on becoming a race car pilot and his couch is the technical adviser and best friend Pedro Navalha (Erasmo Carlos). They dawdle the repair of the Dodge Charger R/T of a playboy (Reginaldo Faria) to secretly use the car to practice for the race. When Rodolfo does not recover from the trauma of his accident and gives up racing again, Pedro convinces Lalao to take the place of their boss and take a chance in Interlagos.

When we grew older, it is amazing the nostalgic feeling that we have when we somehow return to events of our adolescence, through songs, pictures or films. In 1971, I did not see "Roberto Carlos a 300 Quilômetros Por Hora" since it was considered tacky by people of my generation that loved rock' n' roll and hated the romantic Roberto Carlos. In 2010, I have just watched this movie and I found it delightfully naive and nostalgic. The silly story is visibly inspired in that historic moment, with Emerson Fittipaldi and the success of "Grand Prix" five years ago. Roberto Carlos and Erasmo Carlos surprisingly have good performances as actors and I liked the never corny conclusion very much with Lalo's daydreams with Luciana. The soundtrack with songs that I hated in 1971 now gives the sensation of a time machine and I like it. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Roberto Carlos a 300 Quilômetros Por Hora" ("Roberto Carlos at 300 Kilometers per Hour")