re:mote voices

Title: Lower City
Cast: Alice Braga, Lázaro Ramos, Wagner Moura
Director: Sérgio Machado

Prostitute Karinna has decided to go to the city to make more money. Looking for a lift she is picked up my Deco and Naldinho. In exchange for sex the pair give her a lift on their boat. In the process though they all fall for each other a little. Triggering the love triangle that will slowly tear the three apart.

Lower City is a Brazilian film, which to a degree combines elements of successful Mexican films like Y Tu Mama Tambien and Amores Peros without really have the spark that made these films so successful. The back drop is gritty, combining cock fighting, strip bars and petty crime, weaving the 3 leads through this as they start to realise that they have a problem with what is going on. Despite the grittiness though, the plot is pretty straight forward, and while the film is watchable enough, it does lack any kind of real depth or originality.