Xuxa Gêmeas () is a 2006 Brazilian
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...
children's film
A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that generally relates to children in the context of home and family. Children's films are made specifically for children and not necessarily for a general audience, while family films are made f ...
written by Flávio de Souza, Jorge Fernando and Patricia Travasso, directed by Fernando, produced by
Globo Filmes
Globo Filmes is a Brazilian motion picture production company owned by Grupo Globo.
History
It was founded in 1998 by Roberto Marinho. The films produced or co-produced by the company frequently obtain more than 90% of box office revenue in t ...
,
Diler & Associados,
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film studio and distribution arm of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group division of Warner Bros., both of which are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex ...
and Xuxa Produçoes and distributed by
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
and
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film studio and distribution arm of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group division of Warner Bros., both of which are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex ...
. This is the last Xuxa film to be produced by Diler Trindade. Starring the
Xuxa Meneghel with the participation of
Ivete Sangalo,
Murilo Rosa, Maria Clara Gueiros, Maria Mariana Azevedo,
Eike Duarte,
Ary Fontoura
Ary Beira Fontoura (born 27 January 1933) is a Brazilian actor, writer, director, poet, blogger and TV-presenter. He was born in Curitiba, Paraná.
Personal life
In 2020, he came out as gay, after Maria Zilda Bethlem outed him.
Filmography ...
,
Fabiana Karla
Fabiana Karla Souza Simões Barbosa (born 30 October 1975) is a Brazilian actress, writer, television presenter and comedian, best known for her work on the Globo sketch comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vig ...
,
Thiago Martins.
In the film, Xuxa serves as the
twin
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...
identical sisters who were separated when they were still babies. Thirty years later, Elizabeth (Xuxa) is now president of the father's
graphic arts
A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional graphics, i.e. produced on a flat surface,[art school
An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on practice and related theory in the visual arts and design. This includes fine art – especially illustration, painting, contemporary art, sculpture, and graphic design. T ...]
involved with a
Favela
Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil. The term, which means slum or ghetto, was first used in the Slum of Providência in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was b ...
. Of course, their lives intersect when the wicked Elizabeth suspends the company's sponsorship of the school of Mel, who nevertheless does not give up fighting. To complicate the plot there is a
diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...
that by mistake, falls into the hands of Mel.
Still in 1989, Xuxa Meneghel Started working on a screenplay for a movie that would tell the story of two twin sisters and would be released in Mexico. The feature film would be signed by George Lucas, a budgeted co-production of $1.2 million that did not occur due to international commitments of Xuxa at the time. In 2006 Xuxa returned with a film project with similar script.
''Gemeas'' showed a good performance at the box office, compared to the previous, with more than 1,007,490
box office
A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...
,
being the last film of Xuxa with more than 1 million viewers. He obtained a gross excess of 5,801,734
reais.
Plot
One family receives a double gift on the same day: two
twins
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...
who have just been born. One of them, however, very smart, crawls out of the parental car and stops inside a trailer. Created by
circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...
artists and far from the
biological family, Mel (
Xuxa Meneghel) is a very sweet girl who does everything for the good and the children. But the cold Elizabeth, her sister who does not even know, is absolutely the opposite.
Elizabeth (Xuxa Meneghel) inherited a
graphic
Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of the data, as in design and manufa ...
empire from her parents. Rich and evil, she knows her sister by accident. It all starts when the company she runs cuts off the sponsorship of the school where Mel works. On top of that, a precious gem falls into Mel's hands, creating a quarrel between her and the twin. There is still time for passions among so many confusions.
Cast

*
Xuxa Meneghel as Elizabeth Dourado / Mel Monthiel (Margareth Dourado)
*
Murilo Rosa as Ivan
*
Ivete Sangalo as Alice / herself
* Maria Clara Gueiros as Jennifer Smith McCartney da Silva
* Maria Mariana Azevedo as Poodle
*
Eike Duarte as Byte
* Luís Salém as butler
*
Fabiana Karla
Fabiana Karla Souza Simões Barbosa (born 30 October 1975) is a Brazilian actress, writer, television presenter and comedian, best known for her work on the Globo sketch comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vig ...
as nurse practitioner
*
Thiago Martins as Tigre
*
Ary Fontoura
Ary Beira Fontoura (born 27 January 1933) is a Brazilian actor, writer, director, poet, blogger and TV-presenter. He was born in Curitiba, Paraná.
Personal life
In 2020, he came out as gay, after Maria Zilda Bethlem outed him.
Filmography ...
as dr. Julio César Dourado
*
Leandro Hassum as Zé Mané
* John Klarner as Juquinha1
*
Marcius Melhem as Manézinho
*
Márcia Cabrita
Márcia Martins Alves (20 January 1964 – 10 November 2017), known professionally as Márcia Cabrita, was a Brazilian film, television and theater actress known mostly for her comedic roles.
Biography
Márcia Martins Alves was born in Niterói ...
as Diana
* Emiliano Queiroz as Mr. Constantino
* Patrícia Travassos as receptionist
*
Beto Carrero as himself
* Jorge Fernando as master of ceremonies
* Jorge de Sá as clown-mór
*
Elizângela as aunt
Production
Background
In December 1990, Xuxa reached its peak. In Brazil, Xuxa had, in the history of the
Brazilian cinema, with the successful commercial performance of ''
Lua de Cristal'' (1989), a double success: musical and cinematographic. Internationally, after the success of his first
Spanish-language
Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...
album ''
Xuxa 1'' (1989), Xuxa was about to take another bold step: the launch of his TV Show, in the same vein as ''
Xou da Xuxa'', in Spanish.
With so many good moments, it was time to also dare in the movies. Xuxa, was planning a vacation for her TV show in early 1991, during which time she was planning to release a film outside Brazil.
With script that would tell the story of two Twin sisters.
Diler Trindade's expectation was that the film would be seen by an audience similar to that of ''Lua de Cristal'' in
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 ...
and 8 million people in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
.
The feature film would be signed by George Lucas, who would use a technology created by his company at the time,
Industrial Light & Magic
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American Film, motion picture visual effects, computer animation and stereo conversion digital studio founded by George Lucas on May 26, 1975. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lu ...
, to make the twins interact.
In June 1991 she would be participating in the filming of the movie that would be titled "Twins," a co-production of Xuxa Productions/Dreamvision and
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
, budgeted at
$ 1.2 million (about Cr $ million, by parallel exchange).
In the cast, the Mexican singer Emmanuel and another Brazilian actor, who has not yet been chosen. Brazilian singer
Fábio Júnior was invited but refused because he could not reconcile filming with the preparation of his album at the time.
Another name considered was the Brazilian actor
Maurício Mattar
Maurício Mattar (born 3 April 1964) is a Brazilian actor.
Biography
Maurício Mattar was born in Rio de Janeiro, the son of Jarbas Mattar and Liedir Mattar. He is of Lebanese origin. Mattar is the nephew of the great pianist Pedro Mattar.
...
. However, because Xuxa is devoting himself to his television series
El Show de Xuxa and
Xuxa Park (in Argentina and Spain respectively), the project has been postponed.
Development
2006 was a year of celebration in Xuxa's career. Completing 20 years on
Globo TV, For this, the project to make a film with "two Xuxas" was resumed, but this time, without the international character. On May 4, 2006, Xuxa went to TV show ''
Domingão do Faustão'' to relanse several projects: the DVD "Xuxa, o Show ao Vivo" and the project of the movie ''Gêmeas''. The TV hosts reported that there would be a contest, designed by Jayme Praça, director of ''Domingão'', and by the production of Xuxa, to choose a lookalike of the artist.
The candidates needed to be between 18 and 35 years old and the winner would have the intention of assisting the filming, especially in the scenes in which the twin sisters counter. Subsequently, while the inscriptions were open, the contest was publicized daily by ''
TV Xuxa'' and Xuxa's Sunday column in the newspaper
EXTRA
Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film
* The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film
* The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film
Literature
* Extra (newspaper), ...
.
The contest was held on August 27, 2006 and the winner was the tourist Isabele Fintelman. With a budget of R$5.2 million
reais, ''Gêmeas'' came from a questioning of the director Jorge Fernando "What I would propose different Xuxa?, What she never did? A villain. How to reconcile Xuxa image with the a villain? The twins have appeared" he explains. Xuxa's advisory adds - Jorge is making the star represent and this is unheard of for her.
Xuxa commented on the challenge of interpreting an antagonist:
In order to play the character Elizabeth, Xuxa had to do a laboratory, to better compose the character, something she had never done for any of her previous films "I panicked. The first time I went to Elizabeth, I did not know how to act. Where to put your hand, how to speak. Making Mel, who is the good sister, was easy. I did not have to change anything. I lent my things to Mel and assumed things that were hers in a natural exchange. Already the costumes of Elizabeth ... Nothing, from there, was enough for me. I had to do the stump, wear fake nails, speak in a voice that was not mine. I suffered a lot."
The director says he was satisfied with the playfulness of the protagonist on the big screen, but she does not keep good memories of the work. "I, who did not even know how to play a right role, made two. It was difficult."
Patrícia Travassos, who co-wrote the film with Flávio de Souza, says that ''
The Devil Wears Prada'' (2006) was a reference to creating Elizabeth. Patricia had not seen the film until that date, She had actually read the book and thought there were elements common among the Elizabeth character, as owner of the graphic empire ''El Dourado'', and the character Miranda of ''The Devil Wears Prada''.
Xuxa commented that the intention of the film is to convey positive messages to the public "It is a comedy for all kinds of people, age and social class. A movie that speaks of love and tries to convey that money is not responsible for bringing happiness."
Another subject covered in the plot is the community of Morro Tavares Bastos, in Rio, where the project Stars of Tomorrow is developed - young people who use music to express their ideas. "The interesting thing is that the film shows the favela on its positive side, not the stereotype that society is accustomed to seeing on TV: the dirty and marginal boy, "adds the actor
Thiago Martins, who plays Tigre.
Murilo Rosa, lives the
magician Ivan, love interest of Xuxa in the film: "She is incredible! We understood each other very well, I think the chemistry worked. It was 28 days of lots of fun and learning. I am very happy to be part of this film dedicated to children."
The production also includes comedians such as
Leandro Hassum (Zé Mané),
Marcius Melhem (Manézinho),
Fabiana Karla
Fabiana Karla Souza Simões Barbosa (born 30 October 1975) is a Brazilian actress, writer, television presenter and comedian, best known for her work on the Globo sketch comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vig ...
(nurse practitioner) and Maria Clara Gueiros (Jennifer) - veteran actors
Ary Fontoura
Ary Beira Fontoura (born 27 January 1933) is a Brazilian actor, writer, director, poet, blogger and TV-presenter. He was born in Curitiba, Paraná.
Personal life
In 2020, he came out as gay, after Maria Zilda Bethlem outed him.
Filmography ...
, Emiliano Queiroz and the young actors
Eike Duarte (Byte) and Maria Mariana Azevedo (Poodle). The singer
Ivete Sangalo - who makes her debut in the movies - joins the cast as Alice, Mel's great friend.
Filming
Filming took place in September 2006. The first scenes of Xuxa were filmed on September 10, 2006, in the graphic park of the newspaper ''
O Globo
''O Globo'' (, ''The Globe'') is a Brazilian newspaper based in Rio de Janeiro. ''O Globo'' is the leading daily newspaper in the country and the most prominent print publication in the Grupo Globo media conglomerate.
Founded by journalist Ir ...
'', which simulates the headquarters of the fictional newspaper "O Dourado". Another location was a
favela
Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil. The term, which means slum or ghetto, was first used in the Slum of Providência in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was b ...
in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
called
Tavares Bastos.
All scenes involving the favela, from different moments of the film, were filmed throughout September 19, 2006. Due to the intense work, both Xuxa and
Ivete Sangalo did not speak to the press on the day.
Many favela residents crowded around to see the artists.
Also scenes were filmed in the circus of
Beto Carrero World and in the Museu do Primeiro Reinado (some locations of the museum were used to serve as mansion of the Dourado family).
Music
The
soundtrack
A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
only contains two songs: ''Solidão'', sung by Xuxa interpreting its two characters of the film, and ''Coisas Maravilhosas'', sung by
Ivete Sangalo at the end of the movie. The instrumental tracks were composed by Ary Sperling.
Release
''Xuxa Gêmeas'' had two pre-releases. One in
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
, on December 9 at Shopping Jardim Sul;
and another in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
,
on December 13, at the UCI cinema in
Barra
Barra (; or ; ) is an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the second southernmost inhabited island there, after the adjacent island of Vatersay to which it is connected by the Vatersay Causeway.
In 2011, the population was 1,174. ...
.
The film debuted on December 15, 2006 in 300 theaters in Brazil.
Home media
''Xuxa Gêmeas'' took almost a year to be released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
. Only from November 21, 2007, the DVD was put on sale for retail. For the rental companies the wait was a little lower, about 4 months before. The DVD brought as a gift an adult passport to the ''Xuxa World Park'', which operated in São Paulo.
Reception
Critical response
The screened audience of Filmow gave the film a rating of 1.6, based on more than 1,522 votes. The screened audience of Filmow gave the film a rating of 1.6, based on more than 1,522 votes. Adudiencia do ''Adorocinema'', gave three stars of five, with a note of 3.1 points to the film. The
IMDb
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
audience general gave the film a rating of 1.5 points and a star.
One critic of the Cineclick site gave the film a star and a half-five, criticizing the film's script for the film writing that it "brings nothing new. It is predictable, shameful most of the time and of course educational messages."
In addition, the production bets on singer
Ivete Sangalo as actress. Which, believe me, is not the worst."
However he praised the performance of actress Maria Clara Gueiros, writing that "she is the funniest (or rather the only one who can make her laugh) character as Elizabeth's secretary, Jennifer."
He also praised Xuxa's performance by writing that "it is the production that most demands of Xuxa in the sense of interpretation, which does not fail to disappoint."
and praised TV Hots for abandoning the production of fanciful films, "There are no Viking goddesses or
Duendes, which makes production more tolerable."
Destiny is in charge of all the magic in ''Xuxa Gêmeas'' and, among so many evils, it is necessary to see something positive in this production".
Andy Malafaya writing for ''CINEMAPLAYERS'', also criticized the film, writing that "Watching a Xuxa is already displeasing the big ones, imagine two!", He also criticized the way that the
Favela
Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil. The term, which means slum or ghetto, was first used in the Slum of Providência in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was b ...
s of
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
are portrayed in the film "Hunger, misery, traffickers? This does not exist in the fantasy world of Xuxa. After all, even Ivete Sangalo (oops, Alice) lives there. Does the blonde want Brazilian children to believe that the favela is the best place in the world to live? After all, they all live singing, dancing, stuffing themselves with honey-filled breads! Too bad that no company was smart enough to do
merchandising
Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...
, as is usual. It is sad to see the distortion of reality, more so from someone who should be educating."
The performances were also hard criticized by the critic writing "The performances are below the acceptable level - after all, what to expect from singers, models and comedians of the fifth category ?."
However, he praised the performance Xuxa, writing that she "plays the role of the good-hearted young lady - herself, obviously - and when the shrew enters the scene, the only word that comes to mind is embarrassment."
Giving the film a zero rating.
Writing for ''Cinema com Rapadura'', Amanda Pontes gave 3 to the film, not recommending it to her voters, writing "If you've ever watched any of the classic "Xuxa films" you will not be surprised by this new production, which follows all the molds of the previous ones. "Xuxa Gêmeas" comes with all the expected faults, which ends up classifying it as an authentic copy of the trash". Writing to the same site, Diego Benevides, he was also critical of Xuxa's new cinematographic production, writing that Gemeas sounds "pathetic, totally badly finished and disposable as ever. It might even bring some fun to the kids, we just have to wonder if they can be fooled with so little.
Giving one note to the movie.
''Filmog'', considered the film one of the worst of Xuxa, defining the direction of Jorge Fernando "crazy and fussy." He wrote that the movie is "an old plot, with weak characters and even stupid."
She is double in that movie, one moment you see the sound and sweet Mel, in the other, the caricature and evil Elisabeth."
A reviewer at ''Cineweb'' wrote that "Xuxa Meneghel's fans who were disappointed that she appeared little in last year's animation, ''
Xuxinha e Guto contra os Monstros do Espaço'' (2005), can celebrate. In her new film, the former model returns in double dose." and that Xuxa "tries to reward the absence in the previous long and to call again part of the public that left her. Like the twins of the soap opera ''
Mulheres de Areia'', Xuxa is a bad sister and another good one." Marcelo Forlani writing ''Omelette'', wrote that "that worse than a Xuxa, only: TWO XUXAS!.
Noting one to the film.
Laura Mattos of ''
Folha'', considered Gemeas a breakthrough in Xuxa's film career, writing that she finally abandoned the garbage fables ("
Elves
An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda''.
In medieval Germanic-speakin ...
", "
Abracadabra
''Abracadabra'' is a magic word, historically used as an Apotropaic magic, apotropaic incantation on amulets and common today in stage magic. The actual origin is unknown, but one of the first appearances of the word was in a second-century work ...
") that wanted to glue the actress to the fairy image.
Box office
According to data from the National Film Agency, ''Xuxa Gêmeas'' had a final
box office
A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...
of 1,007,490 viewers,
which at the time was the lowest among the films that starred Xuxa - not considering ''
Xuxinha e Guto contra os Monstros do Espaço'' (2005), which had 596,218 spectators. Despite the lower-than-expected box office, Xuxa defeated its national competitor, ''The Knight Didi and Princess Lili'' released at the same time as ''Gemeas'', Renato Aragão's movie had 742,340 box office. Still, ''Xuxa Gêmeas'' is the second highest grossing national film in 2007, losing to ''
A Grande Família - The Movie'', seen by 2 million Brazilians.
The film grossed 5,801,734 reais.
See also
*
List of Brazilian films of 2006
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xuxa Gemeas
2000s children's comedy films
Brazilian comedy films
Brazilian children's films
Brazilian romantic comedy films
Warner Bros. films
20th Century Fox films
Films about twin sisters
Films shot in Rio de Janeiro (city)
2006 romantic comedy films
2006 films
2000s Brazilian films