Linha de Passe

If you ever saw Central Station, an earlier film by Walter Salles, you will be in for a shock. The cute little boy has grown up to be an acne-plagued teenager. It's an moments like this that one feels old. He's one of 4 brothers from a poor family living in one of Sao Paulo's slums but it isn't City of God pt.2. The threat of violence is indeed ever present but it's more likely to take place at traffic lights with a car window being smashed and a bag stolen. One of the sons clearly had a criminal past but is now involved with a local church; another desperately tries to gain a foothold in the world of professional football; while the eldest is a motorcycle courier, never quite earning enough. The youngest meanwhile rides the buses searching for his absent father. The brothers fight and the youngest has a huge amount of turmoil lurking beneath his angelic features but the affectionis there. It's not sentimental. The mother might be pregnant yet again with another fatherless child, but film doesn't end with anything as crass as a sweet little baby making everything alright. The futures of the boys are left open to interpretation although reason suggests that they won't ultimately be able to escape from their poverty-stricken lives. Yet it doesn't feel pessimistic. Noone's died and the spark of decency is still flickering in all the characters.