While the cinematography is gorgeous and the script extremely sharp, Central Station owes much of its strength to its two mismatched leads.
Central Station(Central do Brasil)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Brazil, France · 1998
Rated R · 1h 53m
Director Walter Salles
Starring Fernanda Montenegro, Vinícius de Oliveira, Marília Pêra, Othon Bastos
Genre Drama
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
When a ten-year-old child loses his mother in a tragic accident, retired school teacher Dora takes him on a journey to find his father. Together the two travel across Brazil in hopes of finding the family that the young boy has never known.
We hate to say it, but we can't find anywhere to view this film.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The New York Times by Elvis Mitchell
There's plenty of room for sentimentality here, but the wonder of Salles' film is all in the telling.
New Times (L.A.) by Jean Oppenheimer
But in a calculated move that pays off handsomely, the picture's remarkable power is reserved for the end, when the intertwining themes coalesce in an extraordinarily satisfying and stirring way.
Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman
A richly tender and moving experience.
New York Magazine (Vulture) by Peter Rainer
In this otherwise rather schematic swatch of social catharsis, Brazil's Fernanda Montenegro gives the best performance by an actress I've seen all year.
[Salles]'s imagery, like his storytelling, is clear, often unaffectedly lovely, and quietly, powerfully haunting.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Rick Groen
Easily among the top 10 films made last year.
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
The movie's success rests largely on the shoulders of Fernanda Montenegro, an actress who successfully defeats any temptation to allow sentimentality to wreck her relationship with the child.
I wasn't in the mood for this film, but it got to me anyway.
Montenegro carries the film su-perbly with her portrait of gritty strength being worn down to a state of tattered vulnerability, while newcomer de Oliveira, a shoeshine boy who won the role over 1,500 other aspirants, is engagingly natural and happily doesn't beg for viewer sympathy.
Users who liked this film also liked
Primary Colors
What's politics without a scandal or two?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, France, Germany • 1998
- Director Mike Nichols
- Cast John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Adrian Lester, Maura Tierney
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
The House of Sand
(Casa de Areia)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 2005
- Director Andrucha Waddington
- Cast Fernanda Montenegro, Ruy Guerra, Fernanda Torres, Seu Jorge, Stênio Garcia, Luiz Melodia
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Olga
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 2004
- Director Jayme Monjardim
- Cast Camila Morgado, Caco Ciocler, Edgar Amorim, Leona Cavalli, Eliane Giardini, Zé Carlos Machado
- Genre Drama, History, War
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Ó Paí Ó: Look at This
(Ó Paí, Ó)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 2007
- Director Monique Gardenberg
- Cast Lázaro Ramos, Dira Paes, Wagner Moura, Stênio Garcia, Luciana Souza, Emanuelle Araújo
- Genre Music, Comedy
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Amazon Video
A Dog's Will
(O Auto da Compadecida)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 2000
- Director Guel Arraes
- Cast Matheus Nachtergaele, Selton Mello, Rogério Cardoso, Denise Fraga, Diogo Vilela, Luís Melo
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures
(Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus)
An aspirin salesman and a rural Brazilian meet in the middle of Northeastern Brazil in 1942.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 2005
- Director Marcelo Gomes
- Cast João Miguel, Peter Ketnath, Madalena Accioly, Jeane Alves, Veronica Cavalcanti, Jorge Clésio
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Video
Lula, the Son of Brazil
(Lula, o Filho do Brasil)
- ✭ ✭
- Brazil, Argentina • 2010
- Director Fábio Barreto, Marcelo Santiago
- Cast Rui Ricardo Diaz, Glória Pires, Juliana Baroni, Cleo Pires, Lucélia Santos, Marcos Cesana
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Amazon Video, Plex, Plex Channel
Lisbela and the Prisoner
(Lisbela e o Prisioneiro)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 2003
- Director Guel Arraes
- Cast Selton Mello, Débora Falabella, Virginia Cavendish, Bruno Garcia, Tadeu Mello, André Mattos
- Genre Comedy, Romance
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Brainstorm
(Bicho de Sete Cabeças)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 2001
- Director Laís Bodanzky
- Cast Rodrigo Santoro, Othon Bastos, Cássia Kis, Dani Nefussi, Gero Camilo, Luis Miranda
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Unfair Competition
(Concorrenza sleale)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 2001
- Director Ettore Scola
- Cast Diego Abatantuono, Sergio Castellitto, Gérard Depardieu, Antonella Attili, Claudio Bigagli, Elio Germano
- Genre Drama, Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Trap.com
(Cilada.com)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 2011
- Director José Alvarenga Jr.
- Cast Bruno Mazzeo, Fernanda Paes Leme, Carol Castro, Fabiula Nascimento, Luis Miranda, Serjão Loroza
- Genre Comedy, Romance
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Mango Yellow
(Amarelo Manga)
A human being is stomach and sex
- ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 2002
- Director Cláudio Assis
- Cast Leona Cavalli, Matheus Nachtergaele, Jonas Bloch, Dira Paes, Chico Diaz, Magdale Alves
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Xingu
- ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 2012
- Director Cao Hamburger
- Cast Felipe Camargo, Caio Blat, João Miguel, Maria Flor, Fábio Lago, Enrique Díaz
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Rio, 40 Degrees C.
(Rio, 40 Graus)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 1955
- Director Nelson Pereira dos Santos
- Cast Jece Valadão, Glauce Rocha, Roberto Batalin, Zé Keti, Modesto de Souza, Jackson de Souza
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Second Mother
(Que Horas Ela Volta?)
Unspoken class barriers within a home come crashing down when the live-in housekeeper's daughter suddenly appears.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 2015
- Director Anna Muylaert
- Cast Regina Casé, Camila Márdila, Karine Teles, Lourenço Mutarelli, Michel Joelsas, Helena Albergaria
- Genre Drama
- Available on OVID, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Neon Bull
(Boi Neon)
An intimate depiction of a rodeo troupe touring the Brazilian Northeast.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil, Uruguay, Netherlands • 2016
- Director Gabriel Mascaro
- Cast Juliano Cazarré, Maeve Jinkings, Aline Santana, Vinícius de Oliveira, Carlos Pessoa, Josinaldo Alves
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Kanopy
Mars One
(Marte Um)
A middle class Black family in Brazil adjusts to life under a far-right extremist president.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 2022
- Director Gabriel Martins
- Cast Rejane Faria, Carlos Francisco, Camilla Damião, Cícero Lucas, Ana Hilário, Russo Apr
- Genre Drama
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads