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Central Station
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Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780767819541
Format: Color, Dolby, Subtitled, NTSC
ISBN: 0767819543
Label: Sony Pictures
Languages: German (Original Language), AnalogPortuguese (Original Language), Analog
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Release Date: January 11, 2000
Running Time: 106 minutes
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: November 20, 1998
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Editorial Review:
In the opening scenes of Central Station, colorful crowds of Brazilians stream into and out of a Rio de Janeiro train, pushing through doors and windows. You're immediately pulled into the brutal vitality of a nation in motion, setting the tone for a picturesque road movie that charts Brazil's renaissance in a little boy's search for his father and an old woman's emotional reawakening. When we first meet Dora (Fernanda Montenegro), this frozen-hearted, sour-faced woman is the epitome of immobility: day after day, she sits in the train station selling her letter-writing skills to all comers, but often doesn't bother to mail these precious messages. When a woman who's paid Dora to write a pleading note to her son's long-missing dad gets run over by a bus, the child, Josue (Vinicius de Oliveira), is up for grabs. (The summary execution of a thieving street kid--in longshot--underscores the seriousness of this waif's plight.) After an abortive attempt to sell Josue for a new TV, the aspiring couch potato finds herself reluctantly propelled into an occasionally Fellini-esque odyssey through the hinterlands of Brazil's sertäo, where Dora and her sidekick find unexpected faith and family. Former documentary filmmaker Walter Salles (Foreign Land) mixes magic with realism in his appreciation of striking faces and places, but Central Station is primarily fueled by the tough/tender performances of Montenegro, Brazil's Judy Dench, and de Oliveira, an airport shoeshine boy Salles cast over 1,500 other hopefuls. (Montenegro was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, and Central Station was in the running for Best Foreign Language Film.) No cloyingly cute child-star, de Oliveira plays Josue as a bracingly idiosyncratic brat. And watching Dora's face and soul slowly, unwillingly unclench as she gets back in motion--and emotion--is potent pleasure, even if Salles's trip does dead-end in soap opera as his Brazilian pilgrim's progress winds down. --Kathleen Murphy
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Finding lost souls...
Young Brazilian boy (Josue) yearns to meet his father who left his Mother shortly after he was born. Josue and his illiterate Mother visit a letter writer (Dora) at a Rio train station to compose a letter to his Father in an attempt to reach out to him. Shortly after leaving the letter writer, a horrible accident leaves Josue homeless. Josue, a suspicious, crafty, sharp-tongued young boy finds his way back to Dora - and then through an unusual set of events (which we won't disclose here) - they ... Read More
Rating: - Central Station
Central Station is an amazing movie! The two main characters are easy to love and to hate. If you have good taste in movies you'll love it!
Rating: - My favourite film - beyond outstanding!!!
I saw this film at the Astor in Melbourne a number of years ago - a grand art deco art-house theatre with a big screen and fantastic choctops. I entered the theatre with no expectations and exited having been blown away.
It is so not a Hollywood film - there is no lead male role (aside from Josue), there is no simple happy ending, and Fernando Montenegra allows herself as Dora to be thoroughly unattractive.
In the film, we see the seething mass of humanity of Rio, the cheapness ... Read More
Rating: - Memorable and meaningful journey
Central Station is a wonderful and emotional film. An aging teacher, Dora, now works in the bustling Central Station of Brazil. She writes letters for those who can't and for those who just wish to connect with someone, regardless of the message. She takes down a message from a young boy Joshue, and his mother; the mother wishes to send a letter to locate the boy's father.
There is an accident outside the Central Station, and Joshue's mother is killed. And now, without compassion or concern ... Read More
Rating:  - lovely
People have been recommending that I see this movie for years, but somehow I didn't get around to it until this week. What a lovely film. I enjoyed it very much, particularly the performances of the two leads, Fernanda Montenegro and Vinicius de Oliveira.
I'm wondering, has anyone else been struck by the similarities between this film and John Cassavetes' "Gloria" starring Gena Rowlands? Both films are about women, definitely not the motherly kind, being thrown into a custodial relationship with ... Read More
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