Directed by: Walter Salles
Staring: Fernanda Montenegro, Marília Pêra, Vinícius de Oliveira, Soia Lira
A picturesque road movie that charts Brazil’s renaissance in a little boy’s search for his father and an old woman’s emotional reawakening. The curmudgeonly Dora works at Rio de Janeiro Central Station, writing letters for customers, whom she despises.
Sometimes she bothers to mail the letters – more often she does not. Josue, a 9-year old boy who has never met his father, is receiving letters from his mother through Dora. When the mother dies in a road accident Dora reluctantly takes Josue in. After an abortive attempt to sell the boy for a new TV, Dora finds herself reluctantly propelled into an odyssey through the hinterlands of Brazil’s Sertäo, where she and her sidekick find unexpected faith and family.
Montenegro was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, and Central Station was in the running for Best Foreign Language Film.