The Man of the Year (2003)

Compelling. Gritty. Good. So are some candy bars. Why do I feel like I’m watch Scarface (1983)? I cannot be too unreserved with my praise. A lot of chaos in the unfolding. So it’s not actually totally straightforward and is perhaps deceptively impressionistic. It might be interesting to compare this film to Drive (2011). In spite of whatever shortcomings it has or may have, the social commentary seems very genuine. Rather than a top down lecture on law and order in early 21c Brazil, we get more an embedded view from inside. So the picture may be blurry, at times, out of focus, even out of bounds. It all seems quite real, mostly. A less con-fabricated and therefore excusable version of Amores Perros (1996). What I found on the internet is others have compared this to City of God (2002), which I probably should now see.

Two minutes of modern research suggests the filmmaker has only made two major films, with some TV work as well. When I first saw WITHNAIL & I (1987), immediately I was bursting to see more films by Bruce Robinson (happily starring Richard Grant). Disappointing then to not see the collaboration ever reach the same heights again.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t see The Man of the Year (2003). And that if you haven’t heard of it, then it’s overlooked. By you. I will not say you need to see it, however. I won’t go that far. Because I don't know what else is happening in your life. Because I never ask or maybe you’re just too distant. Anyway so now we’ve got three! Brazil films. City of God (2002), The Man of the Year (2003) and Senna (2010). Surely some of us should see at least one of these films.