Central do Brasil - Central Station

Preparing for my short trip to Brazil in April is in full force.  I began to learn my Portuguese independently.  If you see me driving while stuck in LA traffic, you will see an individual speaking to himself in Portuguese while listening to his Portuguese CD's.  Speaking about listening to Portuguese in the car, let me tell you about the amazing minds of 3-year-old children.  Over Christmas, I had two of my 3-year-old nieces in my car.  After I turned on my car, the Portuguese CD started playing.  I decided that it would be fun for my nieces to practice Portuguese with me.  I was amazed at how easily they picked it up.  Within their first try, they were already better than me at speaking Portuguese.  For all of us that have children in our lives, and you want those children to be multi-lingual, make sure that they begin learning the languages at the age of three.  They'll learn it in an instant!



Last night, after hanging out with friends in West LA and West Hollywood, I decided to have a relaxing night and watch Central do Brasil, or Central Station as it's known in the English-speaking world.   Central Station, released in 1998, is about the a boy who tragically lost his mother and who is aided by an older single woman in finding the father he has never met.  The film begins in Rio de Janeiro's Central Station as a voyage in Brazil's interior ensues.  We see how towns differ in Brazil as one moves inland.  In addition, we see deserts appear, valleys rise, and mountains grow.  In one spectacular scene, we see a candle lit entirely by candles during the night as a big religious celebration takes place.  The film won the Berlin's International Film Festival in 1998 for best film.  It truly deserves it.  Fernanda Montenegro, the older bitter woman, nailed her performance.  The film was definitely was worth watching.