The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (2007)

83% of critics liked it
(53 reviews)
81% of users liked it
(3,148 ratings)

A 12-year-old Brazilian boy who longs to see his team win out over Italy in the 1970 World Cup match finds his entire world turned upside down as his left-wing parents are forced into hiding and he is sent to live with his grandfather in São Paulo's Bom Retiro district. Though his country is being… More A 12-year-old Brazilian boy who longs to see his team win out over Italy in the 1970 World Cup match finds his entire world turned upside down as his left-wing parents are forced into hiding and he is sent to live with his grandfather in São Paulo's Bom Retiro district. Though his country is being held in the grip of a military dictatorship and the war in Vietnam is raging abroad, young Mauro can't seem to think about anything else but the upcoming World Cup match between Brazil and Italy. If Jairzinho, Pelé, and company can just win their third World Cup title, team Brazil will earn their third star on the strip -- a feat that no other team in the history of the sport has ever managed to accomplish. When his Catholic mother and Jewish father are suddenly forced to go "on holiday," young Mauro is swept out of his middle-class existence in Minas Gerais and taken to stay with his paternal grandfather in bustling Bom Retiro. A multi-ethnic district in which Jews, Arabs, and Greeks all live side by side, Bom Retiro begins to heat up with World Cup fever as things both at home and abroad all seem to be spiraling toward disaster. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 44 min.
Directed By: Cao Hamburger
Written By: Claudio Galperin, Braulio Mantovani, Anna Muylaert, Cao Hamburger
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Sep 26, 2006 Wide
On DVD: Feb 15, 2008
Studio: City Lights Pictures

Critic Reviews

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Director Cao Hamburger has a warm, delicate sensibility that informs the story's commonplace events. Neither the story's drama nor its comedy are overstated.
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
Be patient and brace yourself for the climax; the wait is definitely worthwhile.
Philip Marchand, Toronto Star
Director Cao Hamburger, a Brazilian of Italian and German descent, treats this development with a very light hand.
John Anderson, Washington Post
The Year My Parents Went on Vacation seems to be about, in the end, is big-time sport as the opiate of the masses.
Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader
This nuanced coming-of-age drama by Cao Hamburger exudes warmth without getting mired in nostalgia.
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
This 1970-set tale of a 12-year-old shaped by three driving forces--his country's brutal dictatorship, his left-wing parents' disappearance and a nation's obsession with the World Cup--pulls you into a well-observed world and its characters.
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
A painless enough movie, which is precisely the problem
Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward.com
Heavy on nostalgic charm, but a lovely and insightful portrait of children buffeted by their parents' leftist activism in the 1970's and of São Paolo's Jewish neighborhood.
Joseph Proimakis, Movies for the Masses
click for full review
Sarah Boslaugh, Playback:stl
You've heard this story before, but what makes The Year My Parents Went on Vacation worth seeing is the unfamiliar setting...the Jewish community of Sao Paolo.
Enrique Buchichio, Uruguay Total
(...) brilla con luz propia por la sensibilidad, sentido del humor, y sutileza dramática con que cuenta su historia.
Norm Schrager, Filmcritic.com
a skillful combination of humor, sadness, and tension
Beth Accomando, KPBS.org
The Year My Parents Went on Vacation is an appealing dramedy that delicately couches its political and social commentary in a coming of age tale.
Brian Gibson, Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)
Steps into the shoes of youth remembered, a summer when a boy's wide eyes are opened further by disillusion--the final whistle sounds sharp and harsh, echoing long after the game's over. An elegant, reflective film that dekes around coming-of-age cliches.
Michele Kenner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
... a sharply drawn coming-of-age comedy-drama...
Sean O'Connell, Charlotte Weekly
Joelsas' youthful exuberance carries the movie long enough to make this "Vacation" a rewarding trip.
Josh Bell, Las Vegas Weekly
The comforting familiarity, even in a foreign country in a time of political strife, is what makes it quietly effective.
Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Despite a few bits of low-key humor and some cheeky bits, the mostly charming film is actually meant to be taken seriously. And there are some poignant, surprisingly tender moments.
Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing
Director and co-writer Cao Hamburger presents all of this in such a timid and sanitized manner that one would suspect childhood wasn't a messy affair. Unfortunately for Hamburger, we've all been there, done that.
Larry Ratliff, San Antonio Express-News
Their performances (Michel Joelsas, Daniela Piepszyk) %u2014 natural, poignant and wide-eyed about what life will serve up %u2014 are things of beauty.

Read all 22 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]In "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation," it is 1970 and Mauro(Michel Joelsas) is driven by his parents(Simone Spoladore & Eduardo Moreira) to Sao Paulo to be dropped off with his grandfather Motel(Paulo Autran) before they can go on vacation. They… More
[font=Century Gothic]In "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation," it is 1970 and Mauro(Michel Joelsas) is driven by his parents(Simone Spoladore & Eduardo Moreira) to Sao Paulo to be dropped off with his grandfather Motel(Paulo Autran) before they can go on vacation. They promise to return before the start of the World Cup which Mauro like most of Brazil is eagerly awaiting, packing his table soccer game and soccer ball. But unbeknowst to them, Motel died shortly before they arrived. So, his neighbor Shlomo(Germano Haiut) reluctantly agrees to take care of the boy. Needless to say, they do not get along and Shlomo is aghast that Mauro is not Jewish.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]So, here's what really happened: Mauro's parents had to go underground because they were political opponents of the dictatorship. In "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation," there are many more people paying attention to the events of the World Cup for which businesses close then the political situation. Even the leftists are watching the games on television. So in depicting an event that unites so many, identity is also a key as Mauro discovers a good deal about his family's past and that there is no simple answer to being a Brazilian. [/font]