DVD
REVIEW: The Year My Parents Went on Vacation
07/13/08
“The Year My Parents Went
On Vacation”, Brazil’s candidate for the 2007 Academy
Award for Best Foreign Language Film, begins
with 12-year old Mauro (Michel Joelsas) playing a game of
table soccer. The year is 1970 and the biggest event for any
Brazilian is about to take place: The World Cup. His parents
are about to drop him off at his grandfather’s house.
However, they aren’t going on vacation, but into hiding from
the government for their leftist activities. Daniel (Eduardo
Moreira), Mauro’s father, calls Mótel (Paulo Autran),
Mauro’s grandfather, and tells him that they are about to
drop off Mauro, but minutes later he dies. Daniel leaves
Mauro at the front door of Mótel’s apartment complex, and
leaves not knowing that Mótel is dead.
Shlomo (Germano Haiut), Mótel next door neighbor,
reluctantly takes the boy in, hoping that his parents will
soon return. Luckly the close-knit Jewish community helps
Mauro adjust and he even manages to make a friend in Hanna.
However, Hanna (Daniela Piepszyk) likes Mauro more than a
friend and becomes jealous when Mauro shows interesting in
Irene (Liliana Castro), a woman who Hanna says is old enough
to be his mother. However, the only thing Mauro real wants
is the return of his parents who have promise to return by
the time The World Cup begins. Once the final game of the
World Cup is about to begin Mauro can barely get enough
enthusiasm to enjoy the game.
The first thing the writers did right was avoiding giving
too many details on the parent’s situation. They do very
little explaining the situation with them, but they
give enough details which allows the viewer to figure it
out. This lets the movie go in a different direction. Here
the objective is Mauro and how he copes with his parents
leaving, the death of his grandfather and living in a very
different environment.
The writers also did a nice job developing the relationships
between Mauro and all the new people in his life. He grows
closer and closer to Shlomo the reluctant caregiver and he
slowly grows to like the very candid Hanna. The director
magically crafted each relationship Mauro has and gave them a very realistic view.
The DVD by City Lights Home Entertainment features an Inside
the Movie featurette, interview with cast and crew, extended scenes and outtake. The movie’s audio is only in
Portuguese, but subtitles are provide for both English and
Spanish.
Review
By Milton Brayson
milton@smartcine.com
VIDEO:
Widescreen Version
AUDIO:
Portuguese 5.1
Dolby Digital Audio
Subtitles: English, Spanish
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Cast and Crew Interviews
- Director, Cao Hamburger, discusses why he thought
1970 was such a remarkable year (15:38)
Inside the Movie
- A behind-the-scenes look at the movie. (9:51)
Extended Scenes and Outtakes
Bloopers (1:52)
Vignette - A montage of scenes not in the movie. (1:21)
Soccer Game - Extended shot of local soccer game. (3:34)
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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