Central Station example essay topic

Heather Klotz er History 207 May 22, 2003 Movie Review of Central Station Central Station" is a tale that does not include elements of overacting or melodrama to bring the audience to understand what the characters are going through. Every touch, every step is wonderfully subtle and honest. The film takes place in one of the largest, if not the largest train station in Brazil, or at least the story begins there. We meet the main character, Dora (Fernanda Montenegro), who has a small stand in the middle of the train station writing letters for customers who are illiterate, but then doing what she pleases with them; sending some, getting rid of others. Strangers approach her table and pour their hearts out to relatives, estranged lovers, even to God as Dora writes down their words. None of them know that Dora's a crook.

After taking their money, she goes home, laughs at their stories with her neighbor and tears up the letters or stuffs them into a desk drawer. She's beyond caring -- she is a cynic who long ago stopped expecting any joy out of life. Able to write, she holds herself above the people who pass her on a daily basis; she's not terribly mean, but she simply cares about only herself. She meets Josue when he and his mother visit the station one day. Soon after, his mother is killed and he begins to wander around the station, without a purpose or a place to live. Thinking that anyplace will be better than the streets, she sells him to a local adoption agency and proceeds to forget about him, until her friend tells her that the adoption agency may not have the best intentions.

She steals him back and the two proceed to go on a journey to find the boy's father. However, what they ultimately find is so much more. Together they find love and through that, feel the happiness that they thought was lost. This charming story redefines the meaning of love and helps us to remember that it can never be lost. As Dora and Josue take buses and hitch rides into the Brazilian interior, 'Central Station' matches their physical odyssey with a journey toward the soul. On the road, exiled from everything familiar, they learn to trust and, in Dora's case, to feel the need for affection.

There are quite a few layers of enjoyment that make up this film. Visually, it's frequently breathtaking, combining inventive and wonderfully creative cinematography with incredibly rich, natural locations. Performances by the two leads are fantastic, subtle, smart and very well done. The script combines drama and touches of humor in a way that is very honest and refreshingly subtle.

This movie provides a grim account of the poverty and hardships endured by the country's urban underclasses. The film captures the sprawling hordes of beggars, thieves, hucksters and underemployed workers crowding into Rio de Janeiro's central railway station, and with just a few brief scenes of violence and death he conveys how cheaply their lives are valued by the police and storekeepers. "Central Station" is an amazing film, visually beautiful and well acted and written. I highly recommend that everyone pay four dollars and rent this emotional and captivating story about human nature and the ultimate goals of human beings; love, friendship, family and most importantly a sense of belonging.