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Sandra Corveloni, João Baldasserini, Vinícius de Oliveira, José Geraldo Rodrigues, Kaique Jesus Santos ...( see more  see more... ) , Roberto Audi , Denise Weinberg , Ana Luiza Garritano

Four brothers from an extremely poor family fight to become what they've always dreamed of being...football players.

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74% liked it

480 ratings

Critics

71% liked it

17 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 48 min.

Directed by: Daniela Thomas, Walter Salles

Release Date: September 5, 2008

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Flixster Reviews (80)

  • EarthlyAlien
    March 8, 2009
    EarthlyAlien
    Coach: "You've got a lot of nerve, kid! Throw this ID away or you'll end up in jail.
    Dario: You saw me play. Give me a chance, coach.
    Coach: You play well, but there's lots like you and they're only 15. Time is tough on an athlete."

    ...( read more)obucket.com/albums/w25/EarthlyAlien/?action=view¤t=08248152.jpg" target="_blank">Photobucket

    Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas' Linha de Passe, the second collaboration between both filmmakers, follows four young fatherless brothers being raised in Brazil by their mother, who's pregnant with a fifth child she will raise on her own. The film is a follow-up of sorts to Foreign Land, which Salles and Thomas made 12 years ago, in 1996, and like that film, Linha de Passe focuses on youth, movement and change.

    Salles and Thomas use the lives of these brothers - Dênis (João Baldasserini), the oldest, who is one of some 300,000 bike couriers transversing the crowded streets of Brazil; Dario (Vínicius de Oliveria), a talented football player who, like millions of Brazilian kids, hopes to use his skill at the game as a path to a better life; Dinho (José Geraldo Rodrigues), who seeks escape by joining an evangelical church; and youngest brother Reginaldo (Kaique de Jesus Santos), who spends his days riding buses around the city, searching for his father.

    Salles and Thomas focus on the lives of these brothers to reflect on Brazilian society and the changes that have taken place there in the 12 years since they made Foreign Land. During that time, the dictatorship was overthrown, a president was elected who immediately eliminated funding for the arts, effectively shutting down filmmaking in Brazil for four years, and Brazil's cities, particularly São Paulo, where the film is set, grew exponentially with little civic planning or control. São Paulo's population has doubled in ten years, creating a culture where jobs are scarce, especially for young people, and for young men like these brothers, growing up in the poor working class, there are few paths out for those who choose not to pursue a life of crime, with football and evangelism offering a light at the end of the tunnel for some.

    The directors show through their story the lack of choices facing Brazil's young people and its consequent results, but the tone of the film is also hopeful. The brothers are resilient, they are strong, they keep fighting. The title of the film, Linha de Passe, comes from an expression used in football, but also a children's game played by four kids, where the object is to kick the ball back and forth without passing it. The four brothers are, figuratively, struggling to keep the ball from dropping, to stay in the game, and to be seen as valued members of society.

    Salles weaves the theme of fatherlessness throughout all his films; with some 28% of children in Brazil being raised by single mothers, he and Thomas clearly feel this issue is emblematic of many of the problems facing Brazilian society. Cleuza (Sandra Corveloni), the mother, struggles to raise her sons without paternal guidance. She's often supportive and loving, sometimes exasperated, but always seeking to help her sons find their path through life.

    On another level, the film addresses issues of race within Brazilian culture; the youngest brother, Reginaldo, is black, while his brothers are fair-skinned, and his search for his father is very much a search for his own self-identity and a sense of belonging. The character of Reginaldo was based on a true story from Brazil about a 14-year-old boy who rode the buses around Brazil in search of his father, finally stealing a bus one day and leading police on a chase in an effort to gain attention from the father who'd abandoned him.

    The characters in the film are always moving, moving ... Denis trekking through the dangerous traffic as a courier, Dario on the football field, Dinho in his search for acceptance and salvation within the community of his church, and Reginaldo, endlessly riding the buses. Salles and Thomas evoke motion visually with "guerilla filmmaking" - they had to shoot much of the film with cameras mounted on motorbikes, weaving in and out of traffic jams to film the bike scenes, and following the motion on the football pitch with handheld cameras.

    This gives the film a sense of restlessness, of a constant struggle to swim upstream. Dario, having reached the age of 18, has missed the window of opportunity to move ahead in Brazil's highly competitive junior football leagues, and seeks to find a way onto a professional team so that he can keep playing, while Dinho's faith is challenged by a series of events that cause him to question his own path.

    Salles and Thomas masterfully portray the issues underlying Brazilian society without being too heavy-handed with the social politics; here are four brothers, they say, and these are their stories. They weave all the pieces together into a coherent fabric that brings the story life and keeps the audience engaged in the lives of these boys and their mothers. We care about them and what happens to them and thus, by extension, come to a better understanding of the issues as a whole.

    Vinícius de Oliveria, who plays Dario, is the only actual professional actor in the film. You might remember him as the kid from Salles' Central Station. A football player himself, he trained for four years in a São Paulo football league in order to play his role. The rest of the cast are making their feature film debuts, which is quite remarkable when you consider the performances Salles and Thomas elicit from their inexperienced cast. Sandra Corveloni went on to win the Best Actress award at Cannes last year.

    The directors also chose to staff the film with a young crew; Salles has said in an interview that they "wanted the film to reflect the idea of youth and opportunity from the bottom up." In spite of the young crew, or perhaps because Salles and Thomas mentored them so adeptly, the cinematography by Mauro Pinheiro Jr. and editing by Gustavo Giani are first-rate as well. The only other element of experience comes in the form of Gustavo Santaolalla's beautifully moody score. Linha de Passe is a moving, engaging film by two filmmakers who know what they have to say and how they want to say it.

    The film is part of a larger project; Salles and Thomas plan to follow the changes in Brazilian youth and society at 12 year intervals, making four more films together exploring similar themes. If the next four are as good as Linha de Passe, we have much to look forward to.
  • gor41
    March 4, 2009
    gor41
    Engaging tale of 4 brothers' struggles to find themselves in the unforgiving maelstrom of Sao Paulo. The action sequences (especially the football) are shot with real dynamism and the ending is left bravely open but the themes are well worn.
  • decals74
    September 26, 2009
    decals74
    more brazilian strife. minimal and very believable.
  • daghka
    August 30, 2009
    daghka
    I highly enjoyed this film, it was generic in its topics but refreshing in its situations, it really had some of the finer acting I have seen in a while and I like how information is displayed in bits and portions and where we really explore the emotions at that very time, in rea...( read more)l time.
  • tobidewumoh
    June 25, 2009
    tobidewumoh
    if you are determined you can become what u want to be.
  • nathpandelo
    April 30, 2009
    nathpandelo
    Life as it is. It's a recurring theme, but Salles and Thomas make it work.
  • sportboy
    March 29, 2009
    sportboy
    want to see sometime in my life.
  • perseu
    February 27, 2009
    perseu
    The performances carry the film entirely. Pity that the faux realism is so unconvincing.
  • puuulo
    February 16, 2009
    puuulo
    Although I don't like soccer, I was dying to see "Linha de Passe". But, unfortunately it didn't reach many os my expectations. The characters are very well developed and the performances were very good, specially Sandra Corveloni, who really deserved the award at Cannes Film Fest...( read more)ival. But it seemed very similar to most Brazilian movies. Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas are really talented, but I want to see something different in the Brazilian cinema.
  • AgentLexi2132
    February 3, 2009
    AgentLexi2132
    Portuguese/Indie film.

View All Linha de Passe Reviews

Critic Reviews

September 19, 2008
Nigel Andrews, The Financial Times

The curse of modern Brazilian cinema, it increasingly seems, is that every film reminds us of City of God while none measures up to it. full review

View more Linha de Passe reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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