Mulher (1931)

Love life of a woman of humble origins. Most of the movie dwells on her relationship and cohabitation with a middle-class writer.

A surprise. Although some parts of the movie are lost, there is enough here to satisfy lovers of good cinema. Not only it is rare to see a Brazilian movie this good, there aren't many films as well directed from any part of the globe. The film makes favors to no one: both poor and rich are depicted with all their faults and problems. The script may lack some plot elaboration at some points (which is anyway hard to assess given the incompleteness of the extant print), but this is easily forgiveable in face of the film's abundant qualities. Some sequences stand out: the protagonist doing the laundry outdoors while she is watched by strangers; the sequence at the tennis club, and many others.

Silent with intertitles, and a soundtrack of famous romantic short pieces.

Rating: 73