Central Station (1998) 🇧🇷

As a Brazilian, I watched this movie for the first time maybe over 15 years ago or more. I decided to rewatch it mainly because a new Brazilian movie by Walter Salles (I Am Still Here) just won the first Brazilian Oscar ever, for Best International Film. So this needed a rewatch. I also had the chance to see it in the cinema in a double feature with I Am Still Here. In the first 20 minutes of the movie, we get an idea of Isadora's character and how she lives. She is a former teacher who currently writes letters for people at the main station. But it seems to be more of a scam than anything else. Later, we see her in her apartment with a friend, judging the people whose letters she wrote and tearing the letters apart—or just putting them in a drawer, never sending them. She really couldn't care less about these people or those expecting any news from them. She seems bitter about life in general. She is alone, with no family, child, or pets—only a neighbor who comes by often. We see more of her bad side right after Josué's mother dies, leaving him all alone in the world. She has no sympathy for the boy and tries to avoid him or even take some money from him for a new letter to his father. She only ends up taking him home after an opportunity arises to basically sell the boy to some strangers, with the promise that he would be relocated abroad and adopted by a rich family. After her friend finds out what she did, Isadora feels guilty and goes to rescue the boy so she can help him find his father. From this point on, they embark on a tough journey across the country that changes both of their lives—especially hers. By spending days enduring hardship together, they learn to appreciate each other. She becomes a mother figure to him, and he becomes the child she never had. You can sense her hesitation when they finally find his brother, who takes them to his home with the possibility of meeting his father. She doesn't want to go. She wants to keep Josué and take him home. After he finally reunites with his family, Isadora realizes that he is where he belongs and decides to leave. I really like the ending here. Despite Josué waking up and realizing she is gone, running after her, they don't meet again. No clichéd last-moment farewell. She was gone. They might never see each other again. Earlier in the movie, and again at the end when Isadora writes Josué a letter on the bus, you see that her main concern is that he will forget about her—like everyone else did. She tells him the story of meeting her father after many years and how he didn't remember her at all. As she says, she longs for her father, she longs for everything: "Tenho saudade do meu pai, tenho saudade de tudo." That was a very powerful line, especially in Portuguese, where the word saudade carries deep meaning. A big part of the cinema was very emotional during this final sequence (including me), especially with the beautiful theme song playing. Despite Isadora not being the nicest person throughout the movie, you start to understand why she is the way she is, and you see her becoming a better person. The mother-son relationship she developed with Josué was probably the most meaningful and profound one she had in her entire life. This reinforces what I often think whenever I meet people who are rude or unkind. Deep down, their bitterness often comes from past trauma. I always try to keep this perspective before judging someone as simply "bad." After she finishes the letter and they both look at their photographs, you can only hope that they will see each other again someday.