Filipe Bezerra Being not only a Brazilian but a northeaster as well, I have to tell you that it is strange to see that so many people around the world actually enjoyed this film. I though to be very concerned to those who would understand the language, the situations and the causes of all of this. Well, seems that I was wrong and the themes exposed here are bound to be more universal than I expected.Every moment of Kleber Mendonças'Neighboring Sounds could be opened for discussion as subject of semiotics. The symbolism is so present and so meaningful that I was overwhelmed.A truly masterpiece, that have to be seen with very opened eyes.

darren-153-890810 Main Entry: dullPart of Speech: adjectiveDefinition: boring, uninterestingSynonyms: abused, archaic, arid, big yawn, blah, colorless, common, commonplace, dead, dismal, dreary, driveling, dry, familiar, flat, hackneyed, heavy, ho hum, hoary, humdrum*, insipid, jejune, longwinded, monotonous, oft-repeated, ordinary, out-of-date, plain, pointless, prolix, prosaic, prosy, repetitious, repetitive, routine, run-of-the-mill, soporific, stale, stock, stupid, tame, tedious, tired, tiresome, trite, unimaginative, uninspiring, usual, usual thing, vapid, worn-outHow anyone can enjoy this is beyond belief. This is without doubt, the most boring film i've seen since Beyond the Hills last Tuesday. It's about nothing, literally nothing. I get what the director is trying to do and say, but it's not interesting to us. I know, I know, thats the whole point. But you might as well watch pigeons fly!!So there's loads of daily sounds including dog barks, washing machines etc.... That's not enough to make a film. Those sounds don't even link in. It's woeful. The whole film is moribund. it's 2 hours of waiting for a fire cracker to go off.All I can say it's an April Fools. The joke is us for paying to see itWoeful

Rave Child When the third wave of Cinema Novo was brought to an abrupt end, the quality of cinematic output coming from Brazil stagnated quite considerably.It wasn't really until the films Central Station and City of God surfaced (the latter of which gaining significant critical acclaim) that Brazilian cinema was once again seen as a powerhouse in independent and avant film-making.Much like the aforementioned films, the themes of class and social attitude have pervaded the fabric of the modern Brazilian film, which has become increasingly acute in these perceptions and engaging in the issues of a country which, although rapidly growing and progressing, still faces basic problems of a social landscape that is far from the ideal.The opening images of the film displays real life footage of slavery in Brazil, of the sugar-mills, where the origins of Brazilian society are thought to have come from.The images are immediately effecting, and provide an historical and cultural backdrop upon which the film can build over, depicting a new Brazilian society that has not altogether eloped and emancipated itself from the old, allowing there to be a passageway for the viewer to see the intrinsic connection between past and present.Neighbouring Sounds then drops us into the centre of a middle-class suburban housing residency, it's modern, clean and diverse; a seeming flagship for a prospering Brazil.Beyond the haven of white walls and swimming pools lies the expansive vista that displays the city of Recife, with its high... www.ravechild.co.uk

Matthew Stechel Neighboouring Sounds is a film about various people living in this one particular city/neighborhood area and the various problems these people have and the growing suspicion they have against one another in their ongoing story lines and what happens when these suspicions boil over instead of being dealt with right away or at least communicated with one another. It would clearly like to be a great film about the various classes of people that make up a city that has great history and great numbers of both rich and poor people trying to make a home in the same terrain, and to that end it starts out very well.Introducing a slew of characters most of whom all live very close to one another--and deftly sketching in the details of their situations and their problems as well as their personalities--the film does a wonderful job introducing you to the world all of its character live in. As the film bounces back and fourth between the four or five plot lines that are unfolding--you get a great sense of who these people are, why they are the way they are, and what keeps these people both optimistic and pessimistic about their lives---you feel like you understand why the stressed out working mom feels hassled beyond belief by the barking dog next door, you understand the great hope that the 2 young lovers have for one another while trying to deal with each other's baggage (her history and his family) you understand the paranoia that this new neighborhood watch captain brings on the citizens whom he is trying to allegedly protect and serve. The scene where the new self appointed neighborhood watch guy tries to charm the stressed out dog hating woman is really good, in fact i would say the self appointed neighborhood watch guy's subplot was probably my favorite part of the film if only because his story seemed to be the most interesting--it seemed to contain the most promise in terms of storyline to be filled in as the movie goes on.Unfortunately while the movie goes on, the suspense level that something amazingly bad or something ominous is going on goes on as long as the movie does---the movie keeps heightening the level of suspense we're supposed to feel, goosing the film with quick flashes of a somewhat blurry figure scrambling across the screen at the edge of the frame, or off in the distance, using these various sounds on the soundtrack to suggest that something is about to go down...there's even a good two or three unsettling dream scenes where something completely weird will happen and just when you're saying to yourself What is Happening Now? the film cuts to one of its characters waking up alarmed and somewhat worried about something bad happening in their neighborhood--- this works really really well until it doesn't work...the movie cries wolf once too often to really be effective in the end---there comes a point where you just want to say all right enough premonitions and ominous graffiti signs already---you've earned the right to now scare the crap out of us---but it doesn't--it just keeps going right on along, strongly hinting and suggesting that something horrible is about to happen. with scene after scene of the mere illusion that something wicked this way comes. That the film keeps trying to goose the scares in scene after scene sends the films once captivating energy level down quite a bit---literally it goes from being an engaging and intriguing film to being repetitive and somewhat sleep inducing.It seems like what the movie is trying to say with its different plot threads is that everything (esp in a city with lots of people rubbing against each other) is cause for worry--some things seem to be worth the worry, and other things seems nothing more then your overactive imagination and paranoia. (is that soccer ball playing kid trying to spy on the rich tutored girl because he likes her or because he wants revenge for his ran over soccer ball?---is the video on the security camera making the rounds on the internet of this guy being killed cause for severe worrying and an all night neighborhood watch force?---are these dream sequences based on anything beyond the characters various stresses???) I can get behind a premise like that in a movie--but i felt that this one doesn't quite know where to take that specific idea once its more or less laid out except to repeat the idea that anything can be cause for suspicion among a community made up of either strangers or even in a supposed tight knit group of people.It'd be nice to report that the movie ends with a fantastic closing scene one that really captures the fear that everyone feels or at least a slam bang scene of violence that proves that something horrible did finally happen--- while the two closing scenes are fine and kind of deliver on that edgy and unnerved feeling the film's been so thoroughly setting up... there's also a sense of that's it? finality to it (much like life itself???)--while the last scene mirrors the first scene nicely enough---i can't quite recommend this if only because i wasn't entirely sure the film worked as a whole. Movie seems to be more about tone and atmosphere then about any specific plot even tho i'd been steadily watching and observing the characters go through their story lines with some interest at least.Some people will love the constant quiet paranoia that all the characters keep feeling, and some people will hate the fact that the movie keeps on going with scene after scene of this, but for me i'm not entirely sure that the feeling this movie gives you was one worth sitting thru over 2 hours to feel.