Sábado

SABADO (1995) was the biggest hit ever at the Brazilian Box Office as of 1997, when I first saw it. Brazilian B.O. is measured by entrances, so it's not clear whether SABADO still holds the all-time popularity record or not. It's a very Brazilian-specific movie, featuring many known TV and movie stars (like Giulia Gam) as well as guest appearances by the likes of Jo Soares, possibly Brazil's greatest comedian and political satirist. As the name implies, the movie takes place on a Saturday in a big Brazilian city (undoubtedly Sao Paulo). The action is centered on a commercial being filmed in a crumbling building downtown, Edificio Las Americas) no longer frequented by "normal" people. This screwball comedy serves as a statement on the abandonment of center city areas by the middle class, and gets its laugh by exploiting the stereotypical characters who still live downtown, their milieu and "odd" lifestyles. Everything is seen through the eyes of the Brazilian urban middle class (and wannabes), which explains the film's huge success in its home country. It is available in NTSC video, without subtitles. It's not a bad slice-of-life film for locals and Brazilians living abroad, but probably hard to grasp for outsiders.