''Saneamento Básico'' ( Portuguese for "basic sanitation") is a 2007 Brazilian

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

written and directed by Jorge Furtado. It stars Fernanda Torres, Wagner Moura, Camila Pitanga, Bruno Garcia, Lázaro Ramos, Tonico Pereira and Paulo José.

Plot

The people of Linha Cristal, a fictitious

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Italo-Brazilian Italian Brazilians (, ) are Brazilians of full or partial Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who emigrated to Brazil during the Italian diaspora, or more recent Italian-born people who've settled in Brazil. Italian Brazilians are th ...

descendants in Serra Gaúcha, gather to discuss the construction of a

septic tank A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater (sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatment ...

for

sewage treatment Sewage treatment is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable to discharge to the surrounding environment or an intended reuse application, thereby preventing water p ...

. They form a commission which is responsible in ordering the budget to the

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

. The secretary of the mayor recognizes the need of the tank, but informs that there is no budget available. There is, however, R$10,000 available for the production of a film. This money was sent by the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

and will be sent back if not used soon. The people of Linha Cristal have the idea of using the money to make a low-budget

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about the construction of the tank, but the film has to be fictitious. Then, they decide to make a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

which tells the story of a monster who lives in the building site of a tank.

Cast

* Fernanda Torres as Marina * Wagner Moura as Joaquim * Camila Pitanga as Silene * Bruno Garcia as Fabrício * Lázaro Ramos as Zico * Janaína Kremer as Marcela * Tonico Pereira as Antônio * Paulo José as Otaviano

Release

Critical reception

According to Ana Paula Sousa, film reviewer of '' CartaCapital'', ''Saneamento Básico'' is one of a few really funny films in recent Brazilian cinema. On the other hand, Dayanne Mikevis, reviewer of '' Folha de S.Paulo'', says the film is a "light entertainment" and a "naïve comedy".

Box office

As of August 12, 2007, ''Saneamento Básico'' had grossed R$1,066,051 and sold over 120,000 tickets in Brazil.Saneamento Básico, O Filme (2007) - Box office / business
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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saneamento Basico 2007 films Brazilian comedy films 2000s Portuguese-language films Films directed by Jorge Furtado 2007 comedy films 2000s Brazilian films Columbia Pictures films