''Rio, I Love You'' () is a 2014

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film or a portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of three or more shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme, premise ...

starring an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

of actors of various nationalities. It's the fourth film in the '' Cities of Love'' franchise (following 2006's ''

Paris, je t'aime ''Paris, je t'aime'' (; ) is a 2006 anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different '' arrondissements'' (districts). The 22 directors include Guri ...

'', the 2008 film ''

New York, I Love You ''New York, I Love You'' is a 2008 American romantic comedy-drama anthology film consisting of eleven short films, each by a different director. The shorts all relate in some way to the subject of love and are set among the five boroughs of Ne ...

'', and '' Tbilisi, I Love You'' released earlier in 2014), created and produced by

Emmanuel Benbihy Emmanuel Benbihy (born 6 November 1969, Paris) is a French film producer, best known for creating the ''Cities of Love'' series of films set in various cities around the world; most notable of those are ''Paris, je t'aime'' and ''New York, I Lov ...

Production

The participating directors were Brazilians

Carlos Saldanha Carlos Saldanha (; born 24 January 1965) is a Brazilian animator, director, producer, and voice actor of animated films who worked with Blue Sky Studios until its closure in 2021. He was the director of ''Ice Age: The Meltdown'' (2006), ''Ice Ag ...

(''

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

'' and '' Rio''), José Padilha (''

Elite Squad ''Elite Squad'' (, ) is a 2007 Brazilian crime film based on the novel '' Elite da Tropa'' by Luiz Eduardo Soares, André Batista, and Rodrigo Pimentel. Directed by José Padilha (from a screenplay by Padilha, Bráulio Mantovani, and Piment ...

''), Andrucha Waddington ('' The House of Sand'') and

Fernando Meirelles Fernando Ferreira Meirelles (; born 9 November 1955) is a Brazilian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for co-directing the film ''City of God (2002 film), City of God'', released in 2002 in Brazil and in 2003 in the Un ...

('' City of God''), the Lebanese director

Nadine Labaki Nadine Labaki (; born February 18, 1974) is a Lebanese people, Lebanese and Canadians, Canadian Actor, actress, Film director, director, and Activism, activist. Labaki first came into the spotlight as an actress in the early 2000s. Her filmmaking ...

(''

Caramel Caramel ( or ) is a range of food ingredients made by heating sugars to high temperatures. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons or candy bars, as a topping for ice cream and custard, and as a colorant ...

''), the Mexican screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga ('' Babel''), the Australian director Stephan Elliott (''

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' is a 1994 Australian road comedy film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot follows two drag queens (played by Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce) and a transgender woman (Terence S ...

''), the Italian director

Paolo Sorrentino Paolo Sorrentino (; ; born 31 May 1970) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and writer. He is considered one of the most prominent filmmakers of Italian cinema working today. He is known for visually striking and complex dramas and has of ...

('' The Great Beauty''), the American actor and director

John Turturro John Michael Turturro ( ; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his varied roles in independent films, and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers and Spike Lee. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award a ...

, and the South Korean director

Im Sang-soo Im Sang-soo (; born April 27, 1962) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He has twice been invited to compete for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival: first for '' The Housemaid'' in 2010, and then '' The Taste of Money'' in 2 ...

('' A Good Lawyer's Wife'', '' The Housemaid''). The opening and closing sequences, plus the transitions were directed by Brazilian Vicente Amorim, while musician

Gilberto Gil Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira (; born 26 June 1942), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician, known for both his musical innovation and political activism. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil's Ministry of Culture (Brazil), Minister of ...

composed the theme song. Those responsible for producing the film, among them Rio Filme, disclosed that the cost of production was R$20 million.

Segments

Box-office

In 2016,

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

theatrical and DVD receipts were $60,000.

Critical response

''Rio, I Love You'' received largely negative reviews from critics. On the review aggregator site

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an 8% "rotten" rating based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 3.55 out of 10. Pat Padua of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' said "the film is wonderful to look at. It’s just that the writing is consistently terrible". Ben Kenigsberg of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' heavily criticized the film's lack of cohesion and its adherence to tourist-friendly depictions of Rio de Janeiro. He also noted it has the corporate sponsorship of Fiat, Unilever and others.

Miami New Times The ''Miami New Times'' is a newspaper published in Miami, Florida, United States, and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami metropolitan area, and is headquartered in Miami's Wynwood Art District. Overview It was acquired ...

' Kenji Fujishima calls it a "barrel-scraping collective project." ''Eye For Film''s Andrew Robertson rated it two stars and calls it "baffling in construction and execution"

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

's unattributed review says "The only people sure to love this concoction are those working for Rio’s tourism bureau, which may well have picked the camera’s vantage points for many lush and lovely overhead shots of the city’s distinctive terrain."

References

External links

* * * * {{John Turturro, state=collapsed 2014 films Brazilian anthology films Brazilian romantic drama films Films set in Rio de Janeiro (city) Films shot in Rio de Janeiro (city) Films with screenplays by Paolo Sorrentino 2010s Brazilian films