Product Details

• Actors: Claudia Abreu, Wagner Moura
• Directors: Vincente Amorim
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
• Language: Portuguese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Film Movement
• DVD Release Date: January 1, 2005
• Run Time: 86 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00075YVTE
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,755 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Middle of the World (O Caminho das Nuvens)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

The Middle of the World is a road movie on bicycles. It is freely adapted from the true story of an unemployed truck driver who, with his wife and five children, pedals from Paraíba, in the poverty-stricken Northeast of Brazil, all the way to Rio de Janeiro looking for a job. Romão (the father) feels destined to earn 1000 reais (about 300 US$) a month a vast sum for Brazilian standards. On four bikes, the family goes through five states, knows solidarity and indifference, aggressiveness and cordiality. A 2000-mile odyssey through the hinterlands of Brazil all the way to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's best-known postcard. The Middle of the World shows the quest for the dream of a decent life a story of dreams and hope.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars family road trip, January 24, 2007

By 

Daniel B. Clendenin (www.journeywithjesus.net) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Middle of the World (O Caminho das Nuvens) (DVD)

Which is more important, the journey or the destination? Romao is an illiterate and unemployed man with a wife and five kids, but he believes in destiny. "My true destiny is on the road," he tells anyone who would stop him from taking his family of seven on a six-month, two thousand mile bicycle journey across the heart of Brazil to Rio de Janeiro. There, he believes, he will find work so that he can feed his family. People think he's crazy, of course, including his family. They panhandle, do odd jobs, sing songs at restaurants, meet people both evil and good, and sleep in abandoned buildings and rusted out buses. But they love each other deeply and experience many life lessons, especially the adolescent Antonio who is turning into a young man. This film, "based upon a true story," won at least five festival awards, all of them deserved in my opinion. In Portuguese with English subtitles.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very thoughtful and professionally made movie, April 21, 2008

By 

Shishov Georgiy (Ulyanovsk, Russia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Middle of the World (O Caminho das Nuvens) (DVD)

From the very first minutes of this movie you clearly understand how professionally it was made. Perfect photography and director's work! I tend to think that this is due to the producer Bruno Barreto.

There's a simple story with a few turns. You'll find a lot of Brazilian country landscapes here and meet local culture.

After viewing this film I felt a little sad because such a large and beautiful country with such good people and rich culture is so poor. This movie won't thrill you, but it will make you think and feel instead.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching story, beautiful landscapes, May 24, 2005

By 

Jean-Sbastien Bdard "JS Bédard" (Québec) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Middle of the World (O Caminho das Nuvens) (DVD)

If you are curious about Brasil as i am, you must listen to this movie. Road trip on bicycle from Paraiba state on nordeste Brasil until Rio de Janeiro. A family looking for a better life. Great views of the Brasil countryside, and costal areas. A simple but beautiful movie, no action but the same Brasil quality.