Saudade Do Futuro êêê (Not Rated)

Reviewed By George O. Singleton

Once we've painted the place, they slam the door in our face

30 Second Bottom Line: "Brazilian hillbillies" come to the big city for jobs and a better life. We follow these Nordestinos who are politicians, nightclubs patrons, men talking outside a café and primarily through the forerunners of rap music, repentes.

Story Line: Sao Paulo, Brazil, is the 5th largest city in the world with over 16 million inhabitants. It's a magnet for refugees from the drought-stricken northeast called Nordestinos who want something other than a life of destitution. Saudade Do Futuro is a documentary without the benefit of dialogue or narration. It make take a while to realize what is not there and when you do it's because you are engaged in your interpretation of what you are seeing and hearing rather than what someone like Bill Kurtis, Tom Brokaw or Diane Sawyer thinks.

Saudad is a word with no exact English translation. The concept incorporates the desire for the good things that have been taken away; a tender regret of what is missing; a sweet remembrance of a person or place; a little bit of nostalgia which can also bring warmth and the thoughts we can have from time to time that mix both sorrow and pleasure such as the fond memory of a loved one who has passed on.

The story of the film is captured to a degree by the following excerpts from a rap song performed by street musicians and tambourine wielding poets Joao Cabeleira & Edezel Pereira:

Tell Me More About It: Listening to the street singers along with those that attend the night clubs tells a lot about the culture of poor people and the important role that music plays in keeping their spirits up. Looking at the rush hour in Sao Paulo is enough to make you think that a New York City rush hour must be what their midnight traffic is like. Like Mexicans in the United States, the Nordestinos seek a life that provides opportunity if they work hard. They long for the things they like back home and will send money there to help out. This is the travelogue of Sao Paulo that you won't see promoted by the tourist bureau.

With an illiteracy rate of over 20%, one of five people in Sao Paulo doesn't know the difference between an O from a circle. For poor people to improve their lives, in general, there must be education combined with the choice and access of birth control. As one is making progress, the little money they have at the beginning goes farther with a smaller family.

Saudade has a tendency to repeat itself with shots of various people edited and then placed in different parts of the film. This results in you feeling that rather than gaining a greater understanding toward the end of the film of the plight in which the Nordestinos live, that you are running in place. Maybe that is the point --the Nordestinos are just there--not going anywhere.