Cidade Oculta
Cidade Oculta is a 1986 Brazilian crime film directed by Chico Botelho and written by Botelho, Arrigo Barnabé, and Walter Rogério. It stars Barnabé, Carla Camurati, Cláudio Mamberti, and Celso Saiki. The film was produced by Orion Cinema e Vídeo and distributed by Embrafilme. The film is part of the so-called "São Paulo Night Trilogy", along with Anjos da Noite and A Dama do Cine Shanghai, which are films that depict the urban and nocturnal life of São Paulo with a noir and postmodern aesthetic, breaking away from the realist Cinema Novo tradition.
Plot
Anjo has just been released after seven years in prison. He unexpectedly reconnects with Japa, his companion at the time of his arrest and now the leader of a gang. Through Japa, he meets Shirley Sombra and, even against his will, ends up involved with the two in new adventures, earning amidst the chaos the mortal enmity of Ratão, a corrupt police officer. Amid constant assignments and escapes, trusting and distrusting Japa, and becoming increasingly entangled in a romantic affair with Shirley, Anjo tries to reconstruct what happened years earlier to unravel the mysteries surrounding his peculiar arrest. Gradually, he delves deeper into the intricacies of police corruption. Only Shirley is able to move effortlessly through all circles, and thus Anjo depends on her protection. After a series of chases, escapes, and shootouts, they are finally cornered by Ratão in a house in Liberdade—the historic Japanese district of São Paulo—where Japa had taken Anjo, setting the stage for the definitive settling of scores among the four.
Cast
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Reception
Critic Fernando Oriente, on the website Tudo Vai Bem, said: "São Paulo is, in Botelho's film, the main character. The director attempts to delve into its layers, exposing its characters as parts of the organism that is this city. With a special attention to the visual beauty of his filmic material, Chico Botelho manages, with hits and misses, to convey far more than a postmodern discourse. What stands out most in the film is the desire for cinema, the urgency of making cinema." He further stated: "Anjo's sense of failure is a reflection of the feeling of defeat of the ideals and expectations of Chico Botelho's generation—the generation of the 60s." He noted that the film's editing "is one of its weak points," but said: "It is a film in which one can perceive the intentions of its discourse precisely in its missteps. This paradox between the film as a whole and Chico Botelho's passionate need to make cinema gives the feature a rare sincerity."