Lula, o Filho do Brasil

I just saw "Lula, Son of Brazil" at the Palm Springs Festival. As others noted, the acting (Glória Pires and Milhem Cortaz ) is very good and first timer Ruis Ricardo Diaz does a good job portraying the future president. The cinematography is also up to the usual high standards of Brazilian films. The portrayal of the Northeast, origin of much of the marginalized population in the industrial southern cities is genuine and sympathetic, as it was in previous films ( "CentralStation", and "Behind the Sun" )

The fictionalized and tear-jerky story line, however, comes across as the secular sanctification of Lula. One should not forget that the film's makers and some of the actors are intimately connected with the ex-president. Lula's remarkable popularity and executive success should not be cause to whitewash his entire past and portray him as the proletarian saint he appears to be in this movie. The director ( Fábio Barreto ) admitted that national screenings only netted an audience of 1 Million. In a nation of over 200 Million, that stands in contrast to the reported 85% approval rating of the politician at the end of his term. Ms. Barreto, full of class angst, blames this on the "Class A" population, supposedly the only ones interested enough or rich enough to afford the $5 ticket price. This implies a simplified vision of Brazilian society between the haves (Class A) and have-nots (Class C); exactly the sort claptrap ideological rhetoric that prevented Lula from achieving success in previous attempts. Yes, there is a wealthy elite and yes, Brazil does have lingering problems with class divisions, but there is at least a middle "Class B" (growing, in large part, due to the impact of recent Brazilian economic successes). There are worthwhile role models among the class of small entrepreneurs, possibly even in the "Brahmin" ranks of "Class A". The simple truth is, people in Brazil may largely approve of the ex-president, but they are not excited enough about him and his worker's party to invest the time and fork over the money to come and adore him. They'd rather wait until it's out on DVD and available for a buck on the notorious black market.

Go and see this film. It has its merits and foreign audiences, in particular, will learn something about Brazil and Lula, but leave your handkerchief in your pocket.

This is a terrible movie and an unrealistic story about one of the most populist president of Brazil since Getulio Vargas. Lula is a selfish person who only care about power, this movie is a completely fantasy about his history. There are some correct parts though, Lula came from a very poor family, thats true, and he also has a very strong ability for speech, but he had some bad episodes along his young life which was not presented in the movie. The movie should have been more truthful to Lula's biography. Besides all those problems regarding the accuracy of the story, the movie quality is very bad, the acting is bad, and the movie was funded with public money, which is a shame. Anyway, I don't recommend.

This movie is about the true story of a poor immigrant, syndicate leader, that became the president of Brazil. The story itself is amazing and deserved to be told. However, the execution here is way poorer than it should. There are many Brazilian directors capable of doing it.

The movie is at all, really bad. The reconstruction of the period id poor, the acting is bad, the casting is at all misplaced. The preparation of the actors was really poor, the accents are wrong, the set is too bi-dimensional, the history set is shallow, it doesn't account for what was the dictatorial period the movie is set in.

At the end, you can't understand or believe in the main character because the director was too much of a fan, or was unable to portrait the man as a real person.

As the story is pretty good, It's is only a badly executed movie. It's a pity, hope this story gets to be told more properly in the future.

I was quite disoriented reading the four reviews on this film. Only four reviews. Very sad, but I'm afraid that only Hollywood movies get hundreds of reviews, no matter how bad they are.

And I say that I was quite disoriented because the only four reviews are from Brazil, and quite severe they are.

Could it be true that nobody is a prophet in his own country? it has to be, because I found this movie to be EXCELLENT!!

The transition between the boy and the adult Lula is quite impressive, both actors could very well be the same person when the years go by and the boy becomes an adult.

Gloria Pires is such a magnificent actress!! and quite contained.

The actor that plays Lula's father is really amazing, not knowing him from previous works, one believes that he's really Lula's father, fantastic interpretation!!

Everybody is excellent and so is the camera work, the editing, the color photography, etc.

As far as I remember I've never been disappointed by a Brazilian movie. I think that Brazilian films are among the best in the world. And the Portuguese language as spoken by Brazilians must be among the most delicious languages to be heard, not to mention their music, absolutely ravishing!!

(Do I sound like a fan of Brazil?).

This movie is profoundly based on the true story of Brazil's President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2010), beginning at his birth, in the poor countryside of the Northeastern semi-arid Pernambuco State.

It is not openly political, once the story ends before his political acting years in the early eighties, but it has produced some controversy in Brazil, once this is election year. Of course, he can't run for President on a third term, though.

Apart from that, there is a feeling through the movie that it was meant to show some of the most important moments in his life, so there are some scenes that are short on completion. Viewers may expect something more about the short stories told as facts, like something you'd tell on a conversation.

The screenwriters apply the conduct line on the main character's mother, played by Gloria Pires (great), as was done in the other heartwarming movie '2 Filhos de Francisco', but still there is some loss of bond.

All the actors give their best, specially the main actor. The photography is well composed. The soundtrack, highly appropriate, though a bit repetitive. The direction, it seems to me, could have been better.

Great moments bring the audience to tears, while learning about the past of suffering and poverty that built the charismatic and popular politician. As a Brazilian, I was touched when I found out that a little boy who cleaned people's leather shoes in the streets became my President. All he needed was to be stubborn.