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SummaryJean (Thales Cavalcanti) struggles with newfound knowledge of his racial and class privilege even as his parents, a failed hedge-fund baron and his sheltered wife, grasp at straws merely to survive. [Cinema Slate]

Casa Grande

Metascore
56
User score
Generally Favorable
6.7
My Score
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Metascore
60% Positive
3 Reviews
20% Mixed
1 Review
20% Negative
1 Review
  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
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  • Negative Reviews
Apr 9, 2016
70
Los Angeles Times
Barbosa skillfully skewers the presumptions of rich folks who presume they deserve all that they've gotten, even as they're squandering it.
Nov 12, 2015
70
The New York Times
Mr. Barbosa blends tales of a coming-of-age and a burgeoning class consciousness, and never loses sympathy for Jean (Thales Cavalcanti).
User score
Generally Favorable
67% Positive
4 Ratings
33% Mixed
2 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
Nov 14, 2015
8
JonLynch
The movie is merely based on Casa Grande e Senzala, a book by Gilberto Freyre, that describes the functionality of a Brazilian normal society. Although it has an old vision of its time, the movie takes a really important part of Brazil's history, the slave society, where the relationship was involved, basically, on the same way it is on the film. It is great, and a very good interpretation of the book, since it is known, lots of rich children act the same way and it does not seem uncommon in any way.
Sep 20, 2020
7
JamesDefoe
Casa Grande is good in most things it attempts to do, but just good. It is about thirty minutes shorter than what it should be as when you think it is going to have the most space to convey its point, it ends. Instead, it states its message in a very expositional and obvious way, choosing the easy rout instead of the brilliant one.
Nov 12, 2015
70
The Hollywood Reporter
A confident and quietly promising feature debut from director/co-writer Fellipe Barbosa.
Nov 12, 2015
60
Variety
The pic is full of nicely observed vignettes that act as signifiers of caste, though at times the script turns overly didactic.
Nov 11, 2015
25
Slant Magazine
The film uses its critique of white privilege as a means to woo the legitimizing gaze of international audiences.
See All 5 Critic Reviews
Jan 24, 2017
7
LeZee
About a rich Brazilian family. In my reviews quite a few times I have mention deja vu, because of encountering similar films. As for this, it was another Brazilian film that came after this, but I saw that one first. It was 'The Second Mother', the Brazilian entry for the 2016 Oscars. Quite similar in narration, particularly about how the Brazilian rich families function, but lots of sub-topics too were covered. It's like a mixed flavour, a slice of everything. Still, the film was fascinating. You know drama films are usually predictable, as well as unpredictable. For instance, a few events resembles to that of our life or that happened our surroundings. And sometimes for taking place in a different country, if you are not familiar with that culture, it becomes a reason to show our interest while we proceed watching it. Seems it was a coming-of-age theme, and it remains that way, but in between the gaps, like I said you will witness the variety. If you had already seen the film that I mentioned earlier, you would feel you had already seen around ten per cent of this film. Like you only need a brief intro to understand the film characters and what follows does not need to get used to the atmosphere in the story. Its about another rich couple with two teenagers and their domestic workers. These characters are the centre of the story and focused each others' bondage, as well as the other side of the their lives like encountering their friends, business, society et cetera. It was a neatly folded film, except I felt the daughter remained a bit mystery. "No boss ever wins a labour lawsuit in this country." The major part of the story was preferred to tell from the boy's perspective. Hailing from a rich family, he was given a very protected life from his father. But he decides to experience the reality of society and that gives him an opportunity to meet a girl. So there's a romance in it, but a small part. As he's a teenager, his sexual curiosity too was explored, but in a most possible decent way. Because if you see the film poster, it gives a different impression, just like the film 'Marina'. In some parts, the film was slow, but considering it is more than a hundred minutes long, the overall pace was good to stay with it till the end. All the actors were excellent and the director did his job decently. But the surprising part was about the topic of racism. I always thought Brasil was one of the tolerant countries when it comes to ethnicity and social classes. Though nothing serious, everything was mostly verbal discussions that ended both ways after those involved expressed their views. Overall, it was a bit different, unlike what we see in American films. Mainly because it arose after an argument with another topic, 'quota', for the socially backward classes. I usually enjoy watching this kind of realistic portrayal. It's like witnessing a different culture and lifestyle, in a cinematic way. If you are a film fanatic like me, you will get the point. The structure of characters and plot, all looked fine. The writing must be appreciated, it will work for the majority of the viewers, but still not appealing enough for some sections of the audience. Otherwise the film would have been recognised equal to the other Brasil film I compared with. This is a 'go for it' film. Not just for entertainment, but to understand how life takes turns that's not yours. So I think it is worth a watch. 7/10
See All 3 User Reviews
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  • Migdal Filmes
Nov 13, 2015
1 h 55 m
Cinema Brazil Grand Prize
• 10 Nominations
Prêmio Guarani
• 6 Nominations
Paulínia Film Festival
• 4 Wins & 4 Nominations
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