Antônia (2006) User Reviews

Grit meets Hollywood

[runamokprods · 7/10 · 4 September 2010]

A sweet, interesting mix of gritty, hand-held street style film-making, with a much more Hollywood story - a melodrama about girl singing group trying to make it, and get out of the ghetto

Ultimately a little thin on the character and emotional level for me, although I'll take it over a Hollywood bio-pic any day. But cliché's are cliché's, even if they're handled with more energy and panache than usual. You can see a lot of twists and conflicts coming a mile off.

Also, some of the acting is pretty stiff – it feels like weak improvisation. Per several articles on the film, the women were picked for singing ability (which is very high, great voices!) first, and acting second.

Most of the songs are terrific, a few are a little lame.

Bottom line, if you're interested in the subject, it's worth seeing.

Cidade de Spice Girl Power

[BrandtSponseller · 7/10 · 4 April 2008]

A rising feminist movement is a major theme of this Brazilian film about a hip-hop Spice Girls-style singing act trying to make it in the midst of the socio-economic problems of lower class Sao Paolo. That surprised me a bit, because I wouldn't have guessed that feminism was a new idea at this point in industrialized Brazil, but I guess I just do not know that much about Brazil.

At times, Antônia - O Filme seems like a spin-off, in a manner more typical of sitcom spinoffs minus the humor, of Cidade de Deus. It occurs in the same world, with the same kinds of problems, only this time from a young woman's perspective. The "spin-off" flavor is maybe explainable by the fact that some of Cidade de Deus' production team is behind Antônia - O Filme, too, and looking at the IMDb, I see that apparently there's a television show, "Antônia", based on these same characters and using these same actors.

Friendship is also a major theme, following these Brazilian Spice Girls--named The Antônias in the film--through serious roadblocks to philia as one by one, other things intrude on their lives and they have to quit the band.

From what I can discern, at least some of the Antônias have musical careers in real life, and they're certainly good singers. With the exception of an impromptu version of "Killing Me Softly with His Song", the music they perform in the film is somewhat vacuous to my tastes, and those scenes made me feel more like I was watching a film such as Stomp the Yard, but the grittier Cidade de Deus-flavored scenes were dominant and worthwhile if not completely novel.

Beautiful!

[jota17 · 10 September 2006]

I have just seen this movie at the Toronto International Film Festival. What a beauty! Everything works in this Brazilian movie. Script, Direction, Cinematography, Acting, the incredible score, just to name a few. The lives of the young women in the outskirts of São Paulo are depicted with captivating and breathtaking images along with outstanding performances. This is the kind of movie you leave the theatre with a sense of how powerful film-making can be. I went to see this movie without any knowledge of what the plot was going to be. From the very first frame I was brought into the lives of the main characters and couldn't let them go even after the credits had stopped rolling. Tata Amaral has certainly placed herself on the A-list of Brazilian movie makers.

Worst Subtitles in History

[jcwla · 2/10 · 27 September 2007]

Wow, is this movie bad. First of all, the plot: there is none. The band goes from four girls to one as a series of script contrivances -- the two involving street violence being especially poorly presented -- combine to make them the single unluckiest backup girl group in Brazilian history. The script is just very immature: each character has exactly one emotion, or one character trait, or one purpose to serve in the story. You know exactly what's going to happen, and even if you didn't you simply wouldn't care. The lead has a nice screen presence and all the girls can sing beautifully, but "Antonia" will be remembered, at least by this viewer, only for a set of English subtitles so consistently awful I was sure they had to be intended as a parody. We're talking "Kung Fu" dubbing here...

A South American Dreamgirls (not!)

[Seamus2829 · 10/10 · 8 August 2008]

If you're wont to check out a film with a cast of strong,independent (and very attractive)women who persevere in the face of adversity,then seek out Antonia. This fine film from Brazil is also a very well written,directed,photographed & acted tale of four young women from Sao Paulo who have been friends since girlhood,and who also boast of musical talent who just want to make it big in the (mostly)male dominated world of Hip Hop/Rap. The big chance comes when they get to open for a big Rap act & are well received. What follows is some bad breaks that pair down the foursome down to a twosome. This is the kind of film that in the wrong hands could have been turned into little more than a South American Spice Girls knock off. Let us all be eternally thankful that didn't happen. The film also boasts of a killer music soundtrack. It almost at times reminded me a wee bit of 'Dreamgirls'(only without a slimy manager). As the film is subtitled, a bit of a search may be in order (you can bet your bottom dollar you won't find it at your local Showcase Cinema). As it was released in 2006, it may already be available on DVD (it does have an American distributor,and carries a PG-13 rating for some salty language and a rather disturbing image of the aftermath of a bloody violent attack).

One of the best Brazilian movies I have seen since Central Station

[LuizaMar · 9/10 · 18 August 2008]

I was extremely surprised by this movie. The story seemed so real, the talent very well picked, true locations, the situations, everything in this movie is perfect without any exaggeration as many Brazilian movies are such as City of God or Quixote. This movie deserves much more than a 6.6, in my opinion is a 9. It's believable, I am sure it's base in somebody's true life story. Great movie. Must see! If you are looking for great singers, there four amazing singers in this movie. These are real talented singers; girls that should be professionals unlike so many professionals here in the US who cannot actually sing, they make it because of how they are marketed, not because they can sing. In any case, here in the US a movie is considered good based on how much money the movie made, it is not based on how good the movie is; also when you have Stars in a bad movie, still makes money, because the viewers have no clue. It's all about money, nothing else.