Product Details

• Actors: Sonia Braga, Marília Pêra, Chico Anysio, Cláudia Abreu, Zezé Motta
• Directors: Carlos Diegues
• Writers: Carlos Diegues, Antônio Calmon, Jorge Amado, João Ubaldo Ribeiro
• Producers: Carlos Diegues, Bruno Stroppiana, Donald Ranvaud
• Format: Color, Subtitled, NTSC
• Subtitles: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Fox Lorber
• VHS Release Date: August 24, 1999
• Run Time: 140 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1572523530
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #306,873 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Tieta returns triumphantly to her town 26-years later as the rich and powerful widow of an industrialist and turns her tiny village upside-down.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sonia Shines, February 8, 2004

By 

L. Shirley "Laurie's Boomer Views" (Huntington Beach,CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Tieta of Agreste (DVD)

This review refers to the DVD(Fox Lorber) edition of "Tieta of Agreste"

Tieta is brash and sassy. She's worldly and flashy, beautiful and wealthy. She wasn't always all these things though. Banished from her poor, small village for her promiscuity years before, she now returns to show them all!
The family that once shunned her, now embraces her...and her money!

As she makes her entrance back into the tiny town in her flashy red car, the villagers welcome her back with open arms(as does the audience). She is their savior. Her money will bring the village the much needed electricity they have been doing without. Along with her is another beautiful woman. The young,demure Lenora, introduced as Tieta's stepdaughter. Their presence shakes up the this quiet, remote Brazilian village,and not even a seminary student is safe from Tieta's charms.These women have a secret though...one that may send them packing once more!

Directed by Carlos Diegues, and set in the most beautiful locale, the story and the characters will definately have you smiling throughout. But it is Sonia Braga who carries this film on her lovely shoulders to make it the engaging delight that it is. She turns in an electrifying portrayal of Tieta and her screen presence is mesmerizing.

The film is in Portuguese with English subititles. The DVD presents a very nice letterboxed picture and has very good sound in stereo. There is a short featurette on the making of "Tieta" and some filmographies.

A nice film to add to your foreign film collection, one that will certainly have repeated viewings. Four stars for this fine Brazilian entry,one of which shines brightly for Sonia Braga!

Enjoy....Laurie

more foreign films recommended:
Antonia`s Line ~ Oscar Winning Original Version [Import, All-region] (Dvd)

Dangerous Liaisons

8 Women / Swimming Pool ( François Ozon 2 pack)

Honey for Oshun (Miel Para Oshun)

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Movie, December 11, 2001

By 

bordersj2 (Boston) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tieta of Agreste (DVD)

This is a very entertaining movie - but let me say what it is basically about since no-one has. Sonia Braga plays the role of a very assertive and "successful" woman who returns to the place of her up-bringing after her husband dies. It had been years since she was cast away. Where she grew up, the countryside of Brasil, is very much like the way she left it only people are a bit older - yet the core remains the same. From the moment she arrives, she turns the small village upside down and creates a slew of mischeif here and there with her family and old friends.

Enjoyable and surprising (in a way) ending and Sonia Braga displayed the true fire of the Brasileira.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Guess who's back in town, August 6, 2003

By 

Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Tieta of Agreste (DVD)

The Brazilian village of Agreste is such a backwater that electricity is cut-off at 9:00 PM. So, it's a Communal Big Deal when a bright red sports car roars into town. From behind the wheel uncurls gorgeous and flamboyant Tieta (Sonia Braga). She's accompanied by Leonora (Claudia Abreu), introduced as her stepdaughter.

Twenty-six years previous, the teenaged TIETA OF AGRESTE was thrown out by Dad after Tieta's sister accused her of sexual promiscuity. Tieta fled to Sao Paolo, where she's lived and prospered ever since, most recently as the ostensible wife of a wealthy industrialist. Despite the rancor surrounding her departure decades earlier, Tieta has been periodically sending money to her Agreste family. She now lets slip that she misses "her girls" back in Sao Paolo, and leads her family to believe that she owns a luxury shop of some sort. Fate has treated Tieta well, and she's not above gently rubbing the noses of her now-aged father Ze (Chico Anysio) and her avaricious and widowed sister Perpetua (Marilia Pera) in her success. Tieta soon proves she has influence in high places when she arranges with casual ease to have streetlights and 7/24 electricity installed in Agreste. At this point, the viewer might be forgiven any questions about the perhaps dubious nature of Tieta's girls and her "luxury shop".

I wanted to like this film more than I ultimately did. Certainly, the very best reason to see it is Sonia Braga, who proves that a 46-year old woman can still be a Hottie. Oh my, is she ever. Indeed, her Tieta character wastes no time in showing Perpetua's eldest son Cardo (Heitor Mello), a young seminarian, that perhaps he's really not cut out for celibate priesthood. A variation of the famous Mae West line comes to mind: "Is that a candlestick in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"

From the very moment Tieta blows into town, by which time the viewer knows the story of her previous banishment, there's obviously the potential for a good revenge story. And revenge is a dish best eaten cold. I would've hoped that Tieta keep her cool, but a shrill screaming match between her and the embittered Perpetua late in the film put that possibility to rest and brought to mind "overacting" with a capital "O". Perhaps it's the fiery Latin temperament. Moreover, there were two subplots, one involving a budding affair between Leonora and a minor village functionary, and the other revolving around the prospective purchase of a local pristine beach by a polluting industrial giant. Both were virtually non-sequiturs, and also prolonged the run time unnecessarily to almost two hours.

Unless you're a Sonia Braga fan or an aficianado of Brazilian cinema, TIETA OF AGRESTE is a take-it or leave-it affair. But whether Tieta is a blonde, brunette, or redhead, she's a sexy eyeful.