Central Station (1998)
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Central Station Movie Review
Central Station is a 1998 Brazilian drama film directed by Walter Salles and starring Fernanda Montenegro. It is one of the country’s finest films.
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“If you ever miss me,
take a look at our little portrait.
I say this because I fear that
you’ll forget me as well.
I miss my father.
I miss everything.
Dora“
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The story isn’t terribly original. An old, tired and deeply unhappy and terrible woman only looks out for herself until she finds an orphaned boy and takes her in. Eventually the two go on a road trip to find his father and she changes throughout the journey.
Yes, I’ve seen a plot like this many times before, but the reason why it did not bother me lies in the execution itself which is rather subtle, grounded in reality and their relationship progresses naturally. The film is so grounded that it thus makes their journey all the more impactful.
So let’s talk about the characters. We have the two brothers to the boy who aren’t all that important and I really did not care for the father’s story as it was somewhat soapy in a typical Latin fashion. But I did really like Irene who makes for a wonderful and necessarily moral friend to our protagonist.
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Speaking of Dora, her character is absolutely fantastic. Her progression is natural and yet still she does not change all too much which is great. I liked her character as we rarely get to see such a horrible, simply awful human being at the center of the movie and that was quite interesting and also realistic. They portrayed well how a lonely, boring life can lead to such a horrible personality and it only took one little boy to shake that up.
He is also terrific and very smart for his age. Many of his clever observations are hilarious and they made me laugh. It was interesting how his entrepreneurial spirit came at such a young age and helped both of them. The relationship between these two truly is wonderful and honestly deep. I loved hanging out with them and I felt like I really met them how strong both the characterization and their interactions are.
Of course the performances are marvelous. Vinicius de Oliviera absolutely killed it and the fact that he was taken from the street by the director and had no previous experience really means that he is a major untapped talent. As for Fernanda Montenegro, she is simply breathtaking in this role. Such a powerhouse performance, subtle and poignant, and she deserved her Oscar nomination which is very rare for foreigners. Unfortunately, the movie did not take home the foreign Oscar and that is almost a travesty for me.
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Central Station is technically polished across the board. Walter Salles directed the movie with such flourish as his direction is very confident and at times even artistic. The same goes for the cinematography which is fantastic and the film perfectly captured the feel of Brazil from its streets to the houses to the carnival to the religious events.
The editing is also top-notch as the movie flies by how engaging it is. The film is framed by letters and even though it thus felt somewhat dated even when it came out, that was still very charming to witness. The score is also quite fabulous and the emotional intensity is strong in this film with its ending being the heartbreaking highlight. That scene is both happy and sad and thus a perfect ending for the movie which took many original turns across their journey and is thus a very authentic road trip flick.
Central Station definitely has a familiar story, but the execution is so great, grounded and subtle that the film still ended up being fantastic. Fernanda Montenegro shines here with such a powerhouse performance, the direction is also phenomenal as are the editing, cinematography and score. But the character development and interactions are so strong that I felt like I’ve just met Josue and Dora and thus that beautiful ending moved me even more. It’s such a wonderful film and a major Brazilian classic.
