''The Ballroom'' ( pt, Chega de Saudade) is a 2007 Brazilian-French romantic drama film directed by

Laís Bodanzky Laís Bodanzky (born 23 September 1969) is a Brazilian film director, producer and screenwriter. She is best known for '' Brainstorm'', a film about the situation in mental institutions in Brazil. Over 15 years, she has coordinated the educational ...

. The action is set in a dance hall (''

gafieira Samba de Gafieira (also called Gafieira) is a partner dance to various Brazilian samba musical rhythms. Unlike street and club forms of Brazilian samba, it evolved as a ballroom dance (''dança de salão'', literally, "salon dance"). Samba de Gafie ...

'') in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

, frequented by elderly people.

Cast

* Tonia Carrero as Alice *

Leonardo Villar Leonardo Villar (25 July 1923 – 3 July 2020) was a Brazilian actor. He became internationally known for his performance as Zé do Burro in Anselmo Duarte's '' O Pagador de Promessas'', the only Brazilian film so far awarded a Palme d'Or at t ...

as Álvaro * Stepan Nercessian as Eudes *

Betty Faria Elisabeth Maria Silva de Faria known professionally as Betty Faria (born May 8, 1941 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian actress. She is best known for her interpretation of the title character in the 1989 telenovela '' Tieta''. She (co-won wi ...

as Elza *

Cassia Kiss Cassia typically refers to cassia bark, the spice made from the bark of East Asian evergreen trees. Cassia may also refer to: Plants ;Cinnamon trees * ''Cinnamomum cassia'' (, ''ròuguì''), the cassia or Chinese cinnamon, found in southern Chin ...

as Marici * Paulo Vilhena as Marquinhos *

Maria Flor Maria Flor Leite Calaça (born August 31, 1983), usually known as Maria Flor, is a Brazilian actress. Career She was discovered in 2002, and her first role was in the film '' O Diabo a Quatro'', filmed in the same year, and released nationwi ...

as Bel *

Elza Soares Elza da Conceição Soares ( née Gomes; 23 June 1930 – 20 January 2022), known professionally as Elza Soares (), was a Brazilian samba singer. In 1999, she was named Singer of the Millennium along with Tina Turner by BBC Radio. Elza was ...

as Ana *

Jorge Loredo Jorge is a Spanish and Portuguese given name. It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος ('' Georgios'') via Latin ''Georgius''; the former is derived from (''georgos''), meaning "farmer" or "earth-worker". The Latin form ''Georgius'' ...

Marly Marley Marly Marley (5 April 1938 – 10 January 2014) was a Brazilian actress. Marly Marley died from pancreatic cancer on 10 January 2014, aged 75, in São Paulo, São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most popul ...

as Liana * Clarisse Abujamra

Reception

David Parkinson of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called it a "quirky ensemble piece", and praised it for being "superbly choreographed." '' Daily Express''s Allan Hunter labeled it as "bittersweet" and gave a rating 3 out of 5, saying "If Robert Altman had ever made a film about an old-fashioned dance hall it might have looked something like ''The Ballroom''." Writing for the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'', Derek Malcom commended it by affirming: "If the film doesn't always convince, it has some wonderful moments. Bodanzky’s sympathy with his characters is obvious — and the music is as much an attraction as the series of stories we are told about them." On the other hand, David Jenkins from '' Time Out'' gave a more negative review, stating "this wannabe-steamy film never manages to generate any dramatic heat because it spreads itself far too thinly across its oversized and mundane cast."

References

External links

* 2007 films Brazilian romantic drama films Films directed by Laís Bodanzky Films set in São Paulo Films shot in São Paulo French romantic drama films 2007 romantic drama films 2000s Portuguese-language films 2000s French films {{2000s-romantic-drama-film-stub