Lower City (2005)

Fresh and Exciting

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

It's a drama about a love triangle's story of two friends which both fall in love with a prostitute. DECO (played by Lázaro Ramos) and NALDINHO (Wagner Moura) are two best friends which live, like brothers, in a boat. One day they meet KARINNA (Ana Braga) and give her a ride to Salvador, agreeing in the middle to have sex with her (she's a prostitute). But what they weren't expecting is that they will both fall in love with her, and she with them, both. There it starts a confusing and dangerous love triangle where no one wants to be the weakest link, but where any one of them has something to lose… This film is interesting because it characterizes some social groups behind this love triangle, portraying them with crudeness but also veracity. I think the main characters are well chosen and the actors too, but even so I think these characters should have had a better development and the acting could have been a little better at parts.(Spoilers) In a film like this I wasn't expecting an open ending, like the one it has. On one hand it's nice, because I appreciate open stories, especially those which make you think about it, and almost "forces" you to create your own alternative ending; but on the other hand I think some explanations should have been given to the viewer. It ends almost in a poetic way, but we get nothing about their choices. It literally ends in the climax, providing us no conclusion at all! (End Spoilers)I did appreciate this movie, but, globally, I think it could have been a little better. I score it 6/10.

Having heard and read so many good reviews about this movie, I had pretty high expectations. But you can easily summarize this movie in 1 sentence and some cheap sex-scenes. There's really not much to tell, camera work wasn't that good, it's a wannabe movie. They must've been thinking: Cidade the Deus was a big hit, let's make a crappy movie and sell it by comparing it to this masterpiece. Music makes good some things. Emotions are not well worked out, especially for a movie like this. I really don't understand all the fuss about this. Go see it if you want to, but it's a waste of time and money. The acting isn't bad, but it isn't good neither.

The words "steamy" and "sultry" are thrown around and placed on the cover of the DVD, but while this movie does have its share of sex scenes, most of them come across as desperate and depressing.It's a sort of underworld these characters inhibit (therefore "Lower City") and when sex isn't dealt with in terms of business, it's motivated by primal lust. But really - after decades of porn taking over the mainstream, are there still filmmakers left who hope to get some mileage out of this? "Y tu mama tambien" worked because the sex was hardly ever just about the act of doing it, but about an innocence lost and about well established rivalries. Here, the drama reaches the complexity of a bar fight.There is actually something of a bar fight that marks the climax of this movie - about 10 minutes in. From here on the momentum is grinding downwards, slowly. The rest of the story consists of one guy looking jealously at the other guy making out with the girl. Reconciliation. Repeat. And some routine CRIME! thrown in to spice up the hot hot hot, um, boredom.

I just watched this movie and I absolutely loved it. There was raw real emotion that kept me glued to screen the entire 98 minutes. There was never a dull moment. The actors were great and the emotion that they portrayed was so realistic. I think the director did a great job at showing us that it is possible for someone to be in love with two people and it was interesting how there was an equal level of love between all three members of the triangle.This film also had some very steamy sex scenes which made me blush a little :) I highly recommend this movie if you are into drama and emotion and turmoil and just high emotions.