Brazil On The Rise The Story Of A Country Transformed

Posted In: Brazil

Avelina Asch says...

A re-release of Criterion's "Brazil" is being released in September and is available for pre-order on the site. It has the exact same contents as this three-disc collection, but they have upgraded the video to an anamorphic transfer after complaints were filed by viewers that the transfer on this edition was so poor/grainy.



Not only that, but the list price is $41.99 as opposed to $59.99. The only difference is that there is an improved transfer on the new set and the cover art is a bit different.



So, before you buy this, you may want to re-consider and purchase the newer, improved release by Criterion.

Posted on November 30, 2010

Pat Soucek says...

this book confirmed my faith in Brazil which has grown over the 20 years I have been visiting this great country .yes there are many faults and a long way to go but to see this growth on the ground affecting people I know as friendsand them eating well and having some of the things that seemed a distant dream a few short years ago is very pleasing sight .to people who have never visited go and see the the good and the bad with an open mind and enjoy.In every country in the world things can be improved this book shows one that trying not always suceedingand has great potential if the right leaders are in place

Posted on December 1, 2010

Kenny Schwerdt says...

Many europeans would wish to own this collection, it is however advertised as Region 1, now for the good news...it is in fact region 0!All three discs are excellent. This is the way to use DVD. The collection allows usto follow the whole production / post production debacle that was Brazil.The film itself is pure Giliam, tarnished genius. Worth every dollar, let'shope more companies follow Criterions example and make region 0 DVD'sactually worth owning...they seem to realise that we already own the VHSversions of these classic films and that just transfering them to DVD isnot enough...DVD is meant to add features to a film and enhance ourenjoyment...Brazil does that and more. Great film. Brilliant DVD.

Posted on December 1, 2010

Edelmira Klavon says...

Brazil is about a future.A future which is full of shiny machines that don't work.Smart houses that don't get power.A bright future that can't reach the goals set for it.Food ordered by the number and lifts that get stuck.Numbers for names, shoe hats, cameras that look like eyeballs and volley ball games all mixed together.We don't even know where the story is really placed.While Tuttle was wanted it was Buttle who was arrested.The government isn't evil as much as it is just bureaucratic and paranoid.They want to do what is right, what is practical, to protect everybody but it seems to turn out all wrong and everybody ends up being hurt.

The totalitarian state in the film is under attack from both outside forces in the form of terrorism and from inside forcees in the form of its own incompetence and tons of red tape.Ugly, twisted, clean and bright all at the same time.I liked the nice computers and the offices that reminded me of MiniTruth from 1984.The movie was directed by Terry Gilliam and much of the feeling and landscape is based on the early the 20th Century's ideas of what the future was to look like, such as Fritz Lang's vision in Metropolis, mixed with the influences of witch trials, Victorianarchitecture, and IRA bombings.

The point of view is mostly from Sam, a geek, a nobody, a cog in the machine, who is just trying to survive.Jonathan Pryce's character goes from happy to unhappy, from unhappy to insane, from insane to happy.Starring along side Mr. Pryce is also Michael Palin and Robert De Niro.While made in 1985 it holds up pretty well.The commentary by Terry Gilliam is from 1996 and very detailed while also wonderful to listen to.

Posted on December 3, 2010

Brenton Matarese says...

I m brazilian, i was interested in the book because i wanted to understand how an american perceives us....Its a great book for beginners, but it doesnt really develop subjects beyond the obvious....

and Brazil is not a country for beginners, as the author says....

But for a first insight, this book is a great read.

Posted on December 3, 2010

Adrienne Petrelli says...

I awaited this book with great hopes, but these were fulfilled only in part.- The Introduction is excellent, it is based on Stefan Zweig's famous title "Brazil The Country of the Future".-And the last five chapters (6 to 10), which are about Brazil's economy and politics, are extremely informative and very illuminating.-

However, I was very surprised, disappointed and indignant about the first five chapters,because I found them intolerably critical and negative.- To take only one example: Chapter Three ("The Myth of a Racial Paradise") attempts, unconvincingly, to demonstrate that Racism in Brazil, against black people and mulattos, is worse than even in the South of the United States.-

Posted on December 4, 2010

Osvaldo Admire says...

Mr. Rohter enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame after President Lula illegal and clumsy attempt to expel him from Brazil for reporting in the New York Times about Lula's abuse with alcohol. So I ran to the library to get Deu no New York Times (O Brasil segundo a otica de um reporter do jornal mais influente do mundo), published in Brazil (no English edition available).I liked the book so much, and after so many recent headlines (just check the latest issues of The Economist) about Brazil successful agribusiness model and how it has achieved sustainable energy independence (sugarcane ethanol makes up 50% of the gasoline market + the recent discovery of huge off shore deposits of gas and oil), I also rushed to buy this book.



Chapter 1, Brazil's history in a nutshell, and chapters 6 through 10 are a must read for anyone interested in understanding the Brazilian economic miracle. Five stars! Unfortunately, chapters 2 and 3, which by the way are completely out of context for a book dealing with "Brazil on the Rise", present a biased view of Brazil, with unfair generalizations and passing judgment based on his moral and religious view of the world. And chapter 2 in particular is written through the lenses of his apparent tight Protestant beliefs as he unnecessarily passes moral judgment on Brazilian sexuality and sexual preferences as viewed by him and supported just by anecdotes. The comparison Mr. Rohter makes in Chapter 4 about Brazilian soccer players treatment of the ball as if it was a woman in just delirious, I just could not stop laughing at such ridiculous metaphor (by the way, if you watch soccer games you should have known that European players and from a lot of nationalities too often kiss the ball too after scoring, including Americans). Those chapters only deserve one star hence resulting in my three star rating. Chapter 5 deals with Brazilian music and arts in general, and despite being excellent, Mr. Rohter really shows up his mastery of this subject, it is out of context for a book on economic development. Brazil on the Rise is actually two separate books published as one.



As Mr. Rohter, I am a gringo (foreigner) who has worked all over Brazil for the last ten years and actually lived over there for four years, and like him, also married a Brazilian, so I do not have the bias of a nationalistic view of Brazil, nor I am not offended by some of Mr. Rohter'smoral outbursts and undeserved criticism (as rightly most Brazilians will). The book demonstrates he really knows Brazilian culture (a couple of blunders apart), but in those hapless chapters he not also shows his Anglo-Saxon bias but also displays the typical carioca (inhabitant of Rio de Janeiro) shortsighted view of the rest of Brazil, which is much more than Rio, Bahia and Brasilia (the chapter covering beach and carnival actually refers almost exclusively to Rio de Janeiro). Not a word in the book about the cultural features of Curitiba, or the states of Sao Paulo, Parana and Santa Catarina, nor anything about the southern region in general, which together with Sao Paulo state is quite an economic model for other Latin American countries, and also has a different culture and idiosyncrasy not found anywhere in the book. The existing country's inequality is a sad fact, but it is mainly related to poverty, lack of opportunities for a decent education, no matter the color of your skin. Also, some of the idiosyncratic features he harshly criticized are shared by most Latin American countries (Roman Catholic heritage). I wonder if Mr. Rohter has ever spent enough time in any of those other countries so that he can tell the differences and similarities.



So, shame on him, a New York Times journalist should have known better. Bringing back old fashion religious prejudices and comparing racism in the U.S with Brazil is not what you expect from someone with his experience and cultural baggage. Those unfair chapters based on his personal biases just serve to reinforce the good old stereotype about American gringos in Latin America. He should have stayed on the book's main subject or instead write two separate books. Nevertheless, I believe Mr. Rohter did an excellent job in chapters 6 through 10 and delivered what he promised in the book's title, how Brazil was able to achieve such progress in agribusiness, sustainable energy and energy independence (chapters 6 and 7), its controversial stewardship of the Amazon (chapter 8), and how "the country of the future" finally seems to be getting there and Brazil aspirations in the global stage (chapter 9 and 10).



For a more in depth analysis of the Brazilian economy and the origins of its current strong momentum (that Mr Rohter deals in just two chapters) I do recommend The New Brazil, also published in 2010. Its style is more academic like, but readable for the general public and without cultural biases or moral judgement, just stays in the policies and the economics, and its historic evolution.

Posted on December 7, 2010

Bethel Herran says...

Like others who have written reviews, I purchased this book with great anticipation only to be dissapointed. Based on the title, I believed I would be reading about the progress Brazil has made in the last 10 years along with the great direction the country is headed. Instead, I had to struggle my way through chapter after chapter of Mr. Rohter's ethnocentristic view of Brazil and Brazilian culture. He was so off the mark most of the time that I just had to laugh. One particular gem is how he attempts to label Brazil's race relations as being worse than those found in the American South! In any case, the book doesn't deliver what it promises until the last few chapters. Up to that point it is simply a crusade by one very narrow minded, WASP individual to view/criticize Brazil through tainted glasses. There are a number of books detailing Brazil's economic rise which have come out recently and are due to be released soon. Buy any one of those-the best so far is titled The New Brazil. This book is only good for the last few chapters, and even then it is not the best. Overall, I was very dissapointed both with this book and it's author.

Posted on December 8, 2010

Marlana Lovenbury says...

As a brazilian living in the USA I wanted to read an American analysis of the recent events in Brazil. Instead I was surprised first with a short chapter that tries to condense the five hundred years-long brazilian history and second with a long rant about sexual oddities, racism, and the real meaning of beach, soccer and carnival. All this was permeated with comparisons to the "Anglo-saxon" values. Only the second half of the book deals with the rising on its title but without any hard fact to corroborate its text. Finally the book concludes with profiles of the current candidates to the Brazilian presidency.



In summary the book is a very long op-ed recollection of personal impressions of an american journalist working in Brazil. It can only be of some use to people that know absolutely nothing about Brazil, but i don't recommend it as a good introduction to my country and also as an in-depth analysis of the political and economic changes that unleashed the Brazil rising that the book title refers to.

Posted on December 8, 2010

Juli Depriest says...

Larry Rohter explains his book's title and more in this short survey of contemporary Brazil. Individual chapters are devoted to history, ethos, race, lifestyle, industry, energy, the Amazon/environment, foreign relations and the future. Readers' appreciation will undoubtedly vary depending on their interest in these areas or their opinions of what was included or left out. As a general reader I found in each one interesting and well presented.



The chapter on lifestyle covers the beaches, Carnival and soccer, each of which looks a lot different on the inside than the outside.



The most controversial chapter, I am sure, is the one on race. Rohter essentially debunks the image that Brazil is a country of multi-cultural acceptance. Outsiders can be fooled, he poses, by the athletes, the artists and the Carnival that represent Brazil on the international scene. He reminds the reader of the duration of slavery in Brazil (de facto in the current time as described in a later chapter) and through statistics and anecdotes he describes the social stratification that exists today.



I came away with a renewed appreciation for this country and its vast resources. For those with more interest in how Brazil made its changes in government and economic policy, I recommend The Accidental President of Brazil: A Memoir by Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the president who paved the way for "the rise".

Posted on December 11, 2010