Juliana Baroni and Rui Ricardo Diaz star in overly reverential story of Brazilian leader
LULA, SON OF BRAZIL (LULA, O FILHO DO BRASIL) (Fábio Barreto, 2011)
Quad Cinema
34 West 13th St.
Opens Friday, January 13
212-255-2243
www.quadcinema.com
www.lulasonofbrazil.com
The story of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s rise from abject poverty to lead his nation is an inspirational, fascinating one. But unfortunately, you won’t find it in Fábio Barreto’s overly earnest, extremely reverential Lula, Son of Brazil. Based on the book by Denise Paraná, the film follows Lula from his childhood with an abusive father (Milhem Cortaz) to his studying to become a machinist and eventually develop into a beloved labor organizer. But the script, by Daniel Tendler, Denise Papana, and Fernando Bonassi, merely hops from important moment to important moment, forgoing any kind of narrative flow and instead feeling like an unconnected series of greatest hits delivered in a matter-of-fact manner devoid of emotion, coming off as flat and trite. His relationship with his devoted mother (Glória Pires) is clichéd and predictable, and his two romances lack any kind of passion. Played by Felipe Falanga as a child, Guilherme Tortólio as an adolescent, and Rui Ricardo Diaz as a grown man, Lula is clearly an inspirational figure in his homeland, but Barreto turns him into a cardboard character in this boring biopic that for some unknown reason ends right before a critical juncture in Lula’s life and career.