Embarque Imediato (2009) User Reviews

A young man who wants to see the world beyond Brazil and the older woman who helps him

[danddinmont · 8/10 · 9 February 2010]

I know very little about the culture of Brazil, and even less about its films, so I readily accepted the invitation of friends to a screening at a Brazilian film festival. "Now Boarding" (translation) is the story of a young (twenty something) man, who when we meet him has a girlfriend of about the same age; although they are a mixed race couple (apparently a more common partnering than in the U.S.), they are both so attractive they look they just stepped out of a Ralph Lauren ad. As I understood their circumstances they both work at Rio's main airport as plane cleaners, and when the film opens they are trying to stowaway on a flight to New York; they are however prevented from doing so by the intervention of Justine, an older woman and airline supervisor, who has a "thing" for Wagner, the young man. From the looks of her residence, Justine has seen better days financially (probably as a singer), but has still managed to hang on to some of the "finer things" from her palmier days. She realizes Wagner wants to raise himself up, and sets out to help him. She gets him a job as, for a better word, an "assistant" to her boyfriend, who may also be a pimp. She sees Wagner rapping at a street fair, and decides to teach him how to sing, he makes enough progress, in Justine's eyes to enter a singing contest with a cash prize large enough to get him to New York, things don't work out quite as planned, but the ending is bitter sweet and satisfying. There is quite a bit of comedy, but the film is in Portuguese with English subtitles, and there were conversations that drew laughs, which didn't translate to the subtitles. This was the film makers first feature, made on a very tight budget; he and Alan Fiterman the film's director have assembled a remarkable cast and shot a film that has the values of a much more lavishly funded enterprise.