Cidade Baixa (Lower City) (2005) Beautiful Brazilian Noir

A  Brazilian Neo Noir masterpiece, directed by Sérgio Machado, written by Karim Aïnouz, Sérgio Machado, Adriana Rattes, and Gil Vicente Tavares.

The excellent cinematography was by Toca Seabra and music was by Carlinhos Brown and Beto Villares.

The film Stars Alice Braga as Karinna, Wagner Moura as Naldinho. Lázaro Ramos as Deco, Dois Mundos as Dois Mundos, Harildo Deda as Careca, Maria Menezes as Luzinete, João Miguel as Edvan, Débora Santiago as Sirlene, José Dumont as Sergipano, and the beautiful locations around Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

The beginning of film is like a riff on all the truck driving and road noirs, They Drive by Night (1940), Thieves' Highway (1949), Highway Dragnet (1954), and particularly Road Movie (1973) and then adds bits and pieces of other noirs, and every film you ever saw about two guys fighting over one girl, making the whole something new.

The films femme fatale is Karinna a whore/stripper who needs a ride to Salvador. Two "brothers" Naldinho and Deco, childhood friends, own a cargo boat. They overhear Karinna asking a bodega owner about any trucks going to Salvador. Naldinho offers her a ride if she'll put out for the two of them. Karinna dickers the price and agrees to go. Naldinho and Deco draw straws to to see who goes first with Karinna, Naldinho wins. The next day the brothers are in both love with Karinna which sends the tale and the crew sailing off to Noirsvilleas as jealousy begins to gnaw at their relationship.

Karinna (Alice Braga)

Deco (Lázaro Ramos) 

Naldinho (Wagner Moura)

After tieing up for the night they all go to a bar where a cockfight is taking place, they lose 100 on the bet they made with their chicken but the winner continues to torment them. A fight starts Deco grabs a bottle breaks and kills the guy. Deco picks up Naldinho and the brothers run out of the place back to their boat and cast off. In Salvador, a Doctor patches up Naldinho, but the brothers need rent and eating money.

In the bodega "a ride for a ride."

Karinna negotiates

Drawing straws

Deco looks for a job, getting some work as a sparring partner at a boxing gym. Karinna takes off to work for Xanadoo, a strip joint/whore house. Karinna get's the brothers a job using their boat to ferry hookers out to the various ships anchored out in the harbor. They also got a con scam working where Karinna fakes ODing and in the panic the captain of the ship offers them money to clean it all up.

The Cockfight Sequence

As things heat up between Karinna and both Naldinho and Deco, each brother jockeys for the upper hand, Deco concentrates on boxing, Naldinho goes to local mobster Dois Mundos (Dois Mundos) and begins to rob pharmacies for the Brazilian equivalents of Cialis, Viagra, etc. When Karinna finds out that she is pregnant, as you would expect, things build to an explosion.

Noirsville 

A 10/10, and a good example of what can be done without spending tons of dough, a Neo Noir about simple people in convoluted situations. Bravo!