Unrelated (dir. Joanna Hogg)

A directorial debut, getting a lot of attention form many media people and good reviews by every newspaper in town. But why?
I went to see it a week or so ago, and was NOT impressed. It's a lazy film. There's no other way to describe it - it doesn't involve you, it doesn't touch you, the cinematography is basic to say the least and it doesn't work in so many levels. I felt pissed off, to be honest. And didn't even stay to meet the director or ask any questions, as there really was no point. The characters aren't developed enough for you to want to know more about them, the acting is okay, but the story lacks emotion, it's just not believable, it's not developed enough to be believable.
i think Walter Salles was right to have spend a while teaching his actors the back story to their characters - you don't see it in the film but you believe them. Unrelated has non of that - the characters are average at best and the emotions are weak and almost bizarre in places.
I think this is a turkey of the year. And a very overrated one for that.

Linha de passe (dir. Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas)

This movie is a real gem, coming from a director of 'Motorcycle Diaries', it explores the lives of four brothers living in Sao Paolo and struggling to move beyond their troubled destiny. This film has a real heart to it, relentless hope that things will get better and all the characters will succeed in their various quests.
These are real stories acted out by real people who have never acted in films before (there's only one exception). The cast has been rehearsing for 4 month before hand to get the stories and the emotions of the on-screen characters right - even living in the on-screen house for the last 4 weeks prior to the filming. Also, according to Walter Salles, a great part of the movie is based on pure improvisation, as dialogues don't sound half as convincing when read by non-professional actors. No wonder that the relationship we see in the film is this convincing, with real emotions, fights and tears. The film is a personal journey of everyone who's in it; it's not so much a self-discovery as trying to break free from the expected.