
In the periphery of São Paulo, the pregnant single mother Cleuza works as maid in the apartment of a middle-class family. Each of her sons has a different unknown father: the oldest, Dênis, has a baby son that lives with his mother and he works as motorcycle courier; Dinho is a converted Christian and works as attendant in a gas station; Dario is an aspirant soccer player that is getting older without the expected chance in a team; and the youngest, Reginaldo, is obsessed a... (Full plot summary below)
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In the periphery of São Paulo, the pregnant single mother Cleuza works as maid in the apartment of a middle-class family. Each of her sons has a different unknown father: the oldest, Dênis, has a baby son that lives with his mother and he works as motorcycle courier; Dinho is a converted Christian and works as attendant in a gas station; Dario is an aspirant soccer player that is getting older without the expected chance in a team; and the youngest, Reginaldo, is obsessed about finding his father who works as a bus driver, and spends most of his spare time traveling by bus. Along the months, each brother experiences new deceptions and expectations while the family fights to survive.
Leave your thoughts about Linha de Passe.
| Slant MagazineFernando F. CroceSalles and Thomas tritely conflate evangelism, soccer and crime as hollow alternatives for the characters, who end up reduced to static sacrificial lambs just so the filmmakers can state, restate and underline their suffering-poor points. |
| Empire MagazineAnna HartExpertly crafted, you leave the cinema with São Paulo's dirt under your fingernails. |
| Film4Neil SmithA moving tale of working-class travails in modern Brazil that puts the carnage of City Of God and its ilk in sharp relief. |
| Times (UK)Wendy IdeUltimately, there is an optimism to the film, albeit one that is tempered by the poignancy of lives shadowed by São Paulo's harsh indifference. |
| Sky CinemaElliott NoblePleasingly, there are no cosy resolutions here; it's up to the viewer to decide each character's fate. Want a happy ending? Work for it. |
| Shadows on the WallRich ClineThis story of four brothers in São Paulo has a lively neorealist vibe that's utterly involving. And the characters are so vividly drawn by the filmmakers and cast that their mixture of hope and hopelessness really gets under our skin. |
| Time OutWally HammondSalles and Thomas's movie contains some extraordinary moments and its fine editing injects a dynamic cross-cutting energy. |
| TeletextVictor OlliverBrazil-based drama directed by Walter Salles that went down well at Cannes this year. Of course, women hardly exist in this macho world. |
| Financial TimesNigel AndrewsThe curse of modern Brazilian cinema, it increasingly seems, is that every film reminds us of City of God while none measures up to it. |
| EmanuelLevy.ComEmanuel LevyWalter Salles' humanistic approach is evident in this film, which offers a poignant look of how Brazil has changed over the past decade. |