Director(s): Cao Hamburger
Writer(s): Adriana Falcão, Claudio Galperin, Cao Hamburger, Bráulio Mantovani, Anna Muylaert
Actor(s): Michel Joelsas, Germano Haiut, Paulo Autran, Simone Spoladore, Eduardo Moreria, Caio Blat, Daniela Piepszyk, Liliana De Castro, Rodrigo dos Santos
Production Co.: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Country: Brazil
Year: 2007
Language and subtitle information: In Portuguese and Yiddish; optional English and Spanish subtitles.
Format: DVD
[ratings]
Summary: A boy is left alone in a Jewish neighborhood in the year of 1970, where both World Cup and dictatorship happen in Brazil.
Supplemental Materials:
This film perfectly represents the personal struggle of Brazilians during the repressive period of the Military Dictatorship. Without even directly showing the persecution of Mauro’s parents, their prolonged absence in the life of their son during such an exciting and scary time permits the viewer to connect with the innocent boy and feel the pain that many Brazilians were forced to experience. Hamburger uses Mauro as a medium to transmit the tension and fear of this time, and the audience, generally distant from the real life events, still can feel the conflict.
O ano em que meus pais saíram de férias is a powerful portrayal of the societal impact brought about by the military dictatorship in Brazil in the year 1970. The young protagonist experiences a complete life transformation, from severing strong relationships, to having to relocate to a new household, illustrating the force and swiftness with which the dictatorship once manipulated its people.
This movie depicted the perspective of a Jewish child during the Brazilian dictatorship of 1970. The film stays faithful to this perspective and effectively shows the nuances of the way the boy sees his dynamic world. “O ano em que meus pais saíram de férias” is one of my favorite Brazilian films because of this authenticity to the protagonist’s perspective.
This movie shows the Brazilian military state through the eyes of a child, but most importantly it portrays the Brazilian national soccer team and the unity created as the nation watches them advance through the World Cup. Mauro, the son of a socialist couple is caught in the midst of political drama, as his parents flee the country in fear of the government exposing their socialist actions, and leave Mauro with his Grandpa. Mauro finds peace through the promise that his parents will return by the World Cup final. As the tournament dawns on Brazil, scenes of every single character screaming and jumping with joy at the sight of the first ever broadcasted World Cup, seems to give hope for the nation’s internal conflicts. Soccer unifies the nation amongst the turmoil that faced Brazil throughout the 1960s and 70s. Although the World Cup is a big deal to most, Brazilians live for the heroes that appear in their starting 11. Despite the most serious of situations, soccer provides relief to the drama facing Mauro and those affected by the military government. This film does a great job balancing the tragedy which can strike during a dictator’s regime, and the humanity of a nation which inevitably arises when Brazil is winning on the soccer field.
This film attempts to present the Brazilian dictatorship through the perspective of a young child. It is evident from the beginning that we follow an unbiased perspective of the Brazilian experience during its military dictatorship because of the innocent lens of the child. The pervasive blindness of governmental oppression by the people during this period could not have been better represented than following the perspective of the child. The extent to which the child was hidden from the “why” his parents have been “away” for months, reveals to the viewer how the military dictatorship either distracted the people through soccer, or kept its oppressive actions very low-key. The film does a great job of projecting a genuine “normal” experience of the Brazilian people during the time of its military dictatorship.