A pleasurably swollen Brazilian soap opera.
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06/14/06
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Lower City (2006)
60
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:53
Fresh:32
Rotten:21
Average Rating:6.2/10
Consensus: This familiar story of a tension-fraught love triangle wavers between brutality and steamy sex.
Theatrical Release:Jun 16, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: Steamy sex, glistening sweat, dark photography, grungy ghetto colors, and sudden violence pervade this Brazilian feature from director Sergio Machado. Alice Braga (CITY OF GOD) stars as Karinna, a... [More]
Starring: Alice Braga, José Dumont, Wagner Moura, Lazaro Ramos
Director: Sérgio Machado
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Reviews for Lower City
Top CriticIt's slick homogeneity, co-produced by Salles and co-funded by the Brazilian petroleum giant Petrobras, of a kind that commonly finds U.S. distribution while far better, riskier, more memorable films on the international table are ignored.
06/13/06
Top CriticIn the end, Lower City is never quite as energetic as it wants to be, touched by the strange, milky lethargy that steeps every waterfront film.
06/12/06
The Monster's Ball Fan Club will surely get a kick out of Sérgio Machado's Lower City, another specious mix of febrile sex and faux race commentary.
06/09/06
'Hot' is the word for this look into the less touristy parts of Brazil.
05/30/06
The Lower City is a disappointing picture that's less than the sum of its sporadically involving parts.
05/26/06
Spunky performances and a dynamic, earthy style boost an otherwise predictable, albeit sexually-charged, latino love triangle.
04/01/06
Though the storyline is dirt simple (can friendship outlive jealousy?) and not particularly meaningful or involving, the action in this character-driven film is scintillatingly sexy.
02/18/06
Lower City is essentially an intimate, well-observed, compassionate film about what happens when lust gets in the way of friendship.
12/06/05
Enjoyable drama that is like a cross between City of God and Y Tu Mama Tambien, with lashings of sex and violence and even the odd bit of ****-fighting thrown in.
12/06/05
All three principals give gutsy, intuitive performances; they generate a juice of pure sexual need and [director Sergio] Machado's camera drinks it dry.
12/06/05
The dramatic rewards are slim as the story moves toward its brutal yet hopeful conclusion.
12/06/05
Machado cleverly undercuts audience expectations and refuses to make moral judgements about the behaviour of the threesome, choosing instead to reveal their inner vulnerability and celebrate their capacity for defiant survival.
12/06/05
Beira a perfeição em seu clímax, que, além de corajoso, é poético e carregado de uma ironia triste, mas inevitável.
11/07/05
It's unlikely that even the most sophisticated or jaded of festival audiences will kindly endure the onslaught of viciousness on display.
09/26/05
Another bracingly dynamic Brazilian drama that jolts us with raw authenticity, finding the universality of human experience in a violent, passionate setting.
08/26/05
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