As someone studying Portuguese, when a film in that language comes to town I go see it. I had no preconceived ideas or knowledge of the actors or story.
I found Bruna Surfistinha to be an interesting tale of a lost young girl who ultimately becomes a woman in control of her life. It is made clear early on she wants cash so that she will not be dependent on anyone. She chooses to work in a higher end brothel. The view of the sex industry as a regular job with hours, rules and a break room helped remove some of the voyeuristic feel. There are a lot of sex scenes, but much like Shame, the sex loses its sexiness after a while. Her job just happens to be in the sex trade with much of the film taking place in her 'office.' The sex scenes were well framed, to me reflecting Bruna's journey from girl to woman. As the film progressed, the characters began to shine through and I found myself focused on them.
There are many savvy observations served up in the dialogue. The film doesn't give pat answers as to why or offer explanations, but rather is a relatively true rendition of what was a Brazilian internet phenomenon. In many ways it is a Horatio Alger success story while being a train wreck talk show scandal all at the same time.
I would recommend it for a variety of reasons, but would also say it might not be for everyone. I'm glad I saw it.
I found Bruna Surfistinha to be an interesting tale of a lost young girl who ultimately becomes a woman in control of her life. It is made clear early on she wants cash so that she will not be dependent on anyone. She chooses to work in a higher end brothel. The view of the sex industry as a regular job with hours, rules and a break room helped remove some of the voyeuristic feel. There are a lot of sex scenes, but much like Shame, the sex loses its sexiness after a while. Her job just happens to be in the sex trade with much of the film taking place in her 'office.' The sex scenes were well framed, to me reflecting Bruna's journey from girl to woman. As the film progressed, the characters began to shine through and I found myself focused on them.
There are many savvy observations served up in the dialogue. The film doesn't give pat answers as to why or offer explanations, but rather is a relatively true rendition of what was a Brazilian internet phenomenon. In many ways it is a Horatio Alger success story while being a train wreck talk show scandal all at the same time.
I would recommend it for a variety of reasons, but would also say it might not be for everyone. I'm glad I saw it.