\n\tThe Brazilian film \u201cGugu\u2019s World\u201d starts quite literally true to its title by showing the audience its lead character\u2019s room, full of everything he loves. Director Allan Deberton crams much story and characterization in those opening frames. From Gugu\u2019s soccer trophies to his colorful wardrobe to the glitter on his face, this 11-year-old is revealed fully and economically. A complete portrait in mere minutes. He\u2019s shown dancing around and even wearing a cape. An endearing character to fall in love with instantly, thus setting up this charming film.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cGugu\u2019s World,\u201d which won the jury prize for the Generation section at the Berlinale, is a generous character study of a queer pre-teen. Gugu (Yuri Gomes)\u00a0 lives with his grandmother Dilma (Teca Pereira), in a small house near the Ara\u00fajo Lima reservoir. Their bond is strong as he lost his mother, Dilma\u2019s daughter, when he was very young. She accepts him unconditionally and their time together is filled with playful joy. At school, he\u2019s doing well and has two supportive girlfriends. He is also a star soccer player. Of course he has a nemesis: a boy named Francisco who\u2019s not as good at soccer, and who keeps calling Gugu \u201ca sissy\u201d while goading him into confrontations. His father Batista (L\u00e1zaro Ramos) eyes him with disappointment and euphemistically calls him \u201ca clown.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAndr\u00e9 Ara\u00fajo\u2019s screenplay manages to flesh out all these interrelationships with sensitivity and nuance. The film finds space to tell the story of Gugu and Dilma\u2019s special bond in scenes that feel natural. A highlight is their love of Cyndi Lauper\u2019s \u201cTime After Time,\u201d which was a favorite of Gugu\u2019s mother. When Dilma starts becoming frail, Gugu goes to great lengths to take care of her while keeping others from invading their space. Though different, the same tenderness shows in the father and son relationship. There\u2019s hurt and shame standing between them, but also love that might lead to genuine appreciation of each other at any point.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tHowever, above all Ara\u00fajo splendidly comes up with an unforgettable cinema hero. In crafting Gugu he writes a wholly original character who also immediately feels familiar. The audience gets to know Gugu so well and fall in love with his courage, singularity and determination to protect his grandmother and their oasis of a life together. In Gomes, the filmmakers hit the jackpot. The young actor brings grit, grief and much exuberance to his performance. He is in almost every frame and holds the film together with a grounded and spontaneous performance that has none of the precociousness that mars many a young actor\u2019s performance. Pereira matches him in warmth and their duet is a pleasure to watch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tVisually the film is as colorful as Gugu\u2019s personality. Deberton, working with production designer Dayse Barreto and costume designer Gabriella Marra, fills the frame with vibrant colors \u2014 deep pink and blue, purple and yellow, to show the beauty and vivaciousness of Gugu\u2019s world. He might be worried about his grandmother, frustrated with his dad, sometimes uncomfortable among his peers, but it\u2019s clear he likes himself and knows he will persevere.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tTherein lies the strength of this film. Not everything goes well, there\u2019s tragedy and sadness but also a sense of infinite hope that permeates the proceedings. The first sentence the character utters at the beginning of the film is that \u201che\u2019s going to save the world.\u201d By the end of the film that seems entirely plausible, even believable. If Gugu doesn\u2019t save the world, he will at least protect himself and his grandmother and make their life together as wonderful as can be. The film seems destined to play at many festivals, especially queer ones. However \u201cGugu\u2019s World\u201d is such a crowd pleaser that it deserves to be seen widely by audiences. They\u2019ll be in for a real treat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brazilian film \u201cGugu\u2019s World\u201d starts quite literally true to its title by showing the audience its lead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[26263,146,85,46,397],"class_list":["post-309255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-berlin-film-festival","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}