The Man Who Copied (2003)

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

This movie attempts to be an adventure/comedy/romance. The story starts showing André (Lázaro Ramos), a poor and so far honest guy working at the Xerox. Every conversation he has sound like a failed attempt of acting as an introvert - which might not be so noticeable for someone who is not Brazilian or isn't used with the language and the way it is spoken here. Although Lázaro is one of the most acclaimed Brazilian actors, his performance as André was very poor compared to his other parts.The movie proceeds to attempt to show a romance between André and Silvia, a girl he spies at and works nearby. Their conversations and moments together sound completely empty and acted.When André decides to make money at any cost and drops his honest self the movie goes on action mode, with a rushed plot after more than half of it was just André introspecting. After much bad acting, the movie has a nice yet a bit far from reality ending.

The cinema from Rio Grande Do Sul, a Brazilian State, is considered the third bigger in Brazil. And it grows bigger and bigger each time a film that was shot there is released. I can remember only of two really good ones. One's Carlos Gerbase, director of "Tolerância" (aka Tolerance), which I haven't seen yet. And the other one is this film's director and screenwriter, Jorge Furtado, a guy in his forties whose mind seems even younger. After a huge collection of short films, he made his first feature, "Houve Uma Vez Dois Verões" (aka Two Summers), in 2002. That was a good, quick and nice-looking. And then he makes this second one.The proportions of this "O Homem Que Copiava" (aka The Man Who Copied) are a hundred times bigger than Furtado's first feature. Starting by the main situation. André (Lázaro Ramos) is eighteen and a photocopier operator in Porto Alegre (capital of Rio Grande do Sul) who lives in a tiny condo with his mother (whose face is never clearly seen). He shares the house expenses with her. After this sharing, a miserable quantity of money is left for him to spend. When the movie starts, he already has a binocular, for which he saved money for a long time. With this binocular, he spies the activities of other people who live in other apartments nearby his.In one of these apartment, lives Silvia (Leandra Leal), same age as André. She lives with an older man (who's probably her father or something like that). As the endless narration goes by, he'll find out he needs R$ 38 to win Silvia's heart. As the movie continues, we're introduced to Marinês (Luana Piovani), a co-worker of André's, and Cardoso (Pedro Cardoso), Marinês's friend that becomes a very good friend of André's. And that's the main cast. But the story really begins when André copies a fifty bucks note at his job. And through this, several (criminal--and funny) situations develop as the movie runs.All the four main actors aren't from Rio Grande do Sul. And Rio Grande do Sul's accent is one of Brazilian's most difficult ones. This was clearly a problem. Well, that and the duration of the movie are the only problems. Everyone is awesome. Lázaro Ramos's André is a very shy guy, but not dumb, that just wants to marry the girl loves. I've gotta say that Lázaro Ramos's accent is ridiculous--causing laughter sometimes. Leandra Leal is doing a perfect job as Sílvia, a girl that dreams of going to Rio De Janeiro and meet a guy who was a very good friend of her mother's--and that might be her father. Her accent is the one who seems more natural. Luana Piovani as Marinês is very funny, doing a very sexy (one of my favorite scenes is when André's narration describes her and they have a dialog about and ex-boyfriend of hers) and bitch-like character that--you'll laugh at this--is virgin. And the guy that wants to change her sexual condition is Cardoso. I suspect that this character was specially written for Pedro Cardoso (such as Paulo José's that's called Paulo). Pedro Cardoso is the best on-screen artist, doing a very comic performance and giving a damn about the accent, because he's the only one that doesn't tries to use it.The screenplay is very well-written and the dialogs are brilliantly thought and spoken. The acting isn't superb, but it's close. The cinematography is "nothing-new". The art direction is OK. The editing made me remember--don't know why--made me remember of Sally Menke's style. I mean, it's really good, very precise. But, the greatest thing in the movie, is the directing. Jorge Furtado conducted the actors in very nice way and the various formats used throughout the movie are original. Only one thing in the screenplay is the surprise in the end of the film. It seemed a little lot unnatural. But, forgetting that, it's okay and it's funny and it's a very good movie. Really.

I'm sure that i have never seen some short-movie of Furtado, but after this one, I'm really sure that I have to see his all productions. The movie is sensitive and makes you enter in character mind, something like "what do I do if I were him at this time".Andre is the typical honest guy that goes to the wrong way, but do not lose his characteristic of to be a good boy - the direction and acting are perfect at this point -, making you think that, although all the crimes involved, the characters made the best choice for your own lives.Good acting! Excellent direction! Great movie! Highly recommended!

André (Lázaro Ramos) is a nineteen years old man who works as a photocopier operator in a small suburban store. He is very simple, earning R$ 240,00 (US$ 80,00) per month, the price of a fancy pair of tennis shoes, and he has just the basic education. He shares some expenses with his mother: he pays part of the rent of the small apartment where he lives with his mother (R$ 100,00); part of the installment of a 14' TV (R$ 32,00); and another R$ 40,00 of other monthly expenses. After expenses, he can afford of R$ 68,00 per month for him. Although being intelligent, he has some sort of incomplete knowledge, due to the partial reading of the books and magazines while he makes copy. He has a pair of binocular, which he bought after one year of savings and he is a voyeur. His hobby is seeing his neighbors in the night, specially Silvia (Leandra Leal), for whom he has a crush. André works with the sexy Marinês (Luana Piovani), a silly beautiful young woman, who usually says that she is virgin and will only have sex with a non-smoking rich guy. One day, André is invited to an opening party in a bar, he calls Marinés, and she brings her friend Cardoso (Pedro Cardoso), initiating a friendship among them. André decides to follow Silvia, and realizes she works as vendor in a store, selling costumes for women. He decides to buy a R$ 38,00 robe-de-chambre for his mother just to get close to Silvia, but he can not afford that amount. Therefore, he makes a photocopy of a R$ 50,00 bill and gambles R$ 9,00 in the lottery, getting a change of R$ 41,00. With this money, he approaches Silvia and they become friends. This is just the beginning of one of the best Brazilian movie ever. While following with humor the saga of André to get the love of Silvia, we find comedy, drama, action and romance in this outstanding film. The direction, the performance of the cast and the screenplay full of plot points are perfect. The DVD was released on 30 March 2004, and I had pre-bought it a couple of months ago. It was really worthwhile waiting for so many days! Brazilian cinema is one of the best of the world, not in quantity, but in quality. We have excellent directors, actors and actresses. But the screenplay of this movie is amazingly good. Even a foreigner, who is aware that our minimum wage is R$ 240,00 (US$ 80,00) per month, can understand the needs of André. This is one of our greatest social problem, the unfair wealth distribution: most of our population (maybe about 70%) receives less than US$ 80,00 per month, in a country where a pair of tennis of a better trademark (like a Nike) costs US$ 80,00. The situation of André reflects the lack of perspective of most of our teenagers, who can not afford to supply their basic needs. And André has a job, lives in a simple flat with his mother in a simple suburban zone outside the slums, and has some education. The unemployment rate in Brazil is higher and higher, the salaries are lower and lower and a great part of the urban population lives in slums. It is impossible not to like this movie, recommended for all audiences. My vote is ten.Title (Brazil): `O Homem Que Copiava' (`The Man Who Copied')