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 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.

Lula is the most hated and loved politician in brazillian history. Half of the country sees him as some kind of messiah and half sees him as the devil. This may seem exaggerated if you're not from Brazil, but is the only thing I think both sides can agree.

This movie was made while Lula was still president and it obviously portrays him as greatest human being to ever walk on planet Earth. This is the movie biggest problem: they didn't write him as REAL PERSON, but as someone who is never wrong or never had any flaws. It was made so over the top to show him as a good guy that it can't be taken seriously.

If you wanna watch this movie to learn how his supporters see him, this is your movie. If you wanna learn about his story, then look for something else...

The story is about the life of Brazilian President (2003-2010) Luis Inácio Lula da Silva. But the movie doesn't concern politics, since it ends before he becomes a politician. It is a humanistic story, very sad, based on a true story present on the book with the same name of the movie. It is always very touching to see that someone who suffered that much could end being a president.

However, there are some corny scenes, very unlikely true. Moreover, Lula's father is shown very very mean, and Lula has told he was bad, but not that much.

The acting of Gloria Pires I found very nice, but the child actors are not well prepared. And the main actor, Rui Ricardo Dias is never shown with his left hand open, which kind of annoys me. I think they should have used some special effects to hide his little finger (which was severed), since it is a production of 9 million dollars, the most expensive ever made in Brazil.

When Lula is already a syndicalist, there are some real scenes that were taken from the excellent documentary "Linha de montagem", of Renato Tapajós. But the cinematography is different between these scenes and the filmed now, so it seems a little strange, but it is comprehensible.

The one fact that really annoyed me is the credits mixed with the story in the beginning. This irritated everybody in the theater and is very unpleasant.

But what matters most in a movie is the story, so how the story is outstanding, the movie is 8 out of 10. The movie "2 Filhos de Francisco" from Breno Silveira is very similar to this, but in my opinion, better directed. And those who likes Lula's biography should also watch the documentary "Entreatos", from João Moreira Salles.

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.