Chega de Saudade

I was expecting something more like The Fireman’s Ball. But not a chance. The Ballroom takes place one evening at a ball for singles/couples who are old and some are even older. Accompanied by a samba (or is it bossa nova?) soundtrack. Only about one third of the (too) many stories and snippets from the dancers’ lives were actually of any interest to me. This is maybe due to the problems that arose having eleven screenwriters working on the final version of the movie. Although I can identify the strong sides of The Ballroom, it doesn’t mean that I rate them. This is a movie targeted at somebody completely different. A completely different generation. But even so, I wasn’t bored, although I can’t imagine that I would ever waste another evening watching this Brazilian version of Come Dancing. (09.09.2008)