Rating: 
Summary: fairly good cinematography... and that's it
Review: this ridiculous rip-off of millions of other movies deservedly won the oscar for best foreign movie ONLY because best foreign movie entails being really saucy, melodramatic, boring, and involving a cute kid. if you fell for tripe like all about my mother, cinema paradiso, life is beautiful, etc. then feel blissful watching this. honestly no new ideas here, and the acting wasn't anything extraordinary contrary to what people say. note: the christian references/subtext are totally unnecessary and cheesy. 1 star for decent cinematography
Rating: 
Summary: A brilliant showcase for Fernanda Montenegro
Review: It seems to me that foreign films in recent years have seen more than their fair share of stories in which a crusty old person bonds with some cute kid. Of course you can trace this plot way past "Cinema Paradiso" back to Chaplin in "The Kid," so it is certainly a tried and true tale to be told. Which makes films like "Central Station" all the more remarkable because you would think this mine had been played out long ago. This Brazilian film by director Walter Salles offers the exquisite Fernanda Montenegro, who richly deserved an Oscar nomination. Her character is Dora, a barren soul who makes her money by writing letters for illiterates in Rio de Janeiro's Central Station. Dora reads the letters to her roommate and then throws them away. But then she meets Josue, played by Vinicius de Oliveira, a nine-year-old boy whose mother has just died. Circumstances are contrived by which Dora takes Josue on a bus trip to return him to his father. This fateful journey does not consist of big confrontations but small moments, each of which begins to peck away at Dora's cold exterior. Perhaps the greatest testament to this performance is to simply point out that the cute kid never really manages to steal a scene away from Montenegro. More than anyone else, she elevates "Central Station" to its heights.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good characters, excellent cinematography
Review: I saw central station based on the other positive reviews here. I was not disappointed. This is a very good film about a cynical retired school teacher who, begrudgingly at first, helps a little boy who's mother has just died search for his father now living in a remote town. In the process of searching for his remaining family she slowly rediscovers herself and a new meaning to her life. The film starts in busy Rio and moves out into small towns. The main characters are all excellent and portray the complexity of human emotions and behavior. Cinamatography is excellent and interesting. The film gives a good portrayal of how people view each other and how we get closer or create distance between ourselves. A well made and interesting movie. Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Wisdom From the Mouth of Babes
Review: In Brazil, the urban sophisticates of the metropolises often look upon the country dwellers as backwater bumpkins but perhaps they hold the key to the past and future of a nation and its individual people. This is discovered by the films two main characters, a cynical retired schoolteacher who has given up on finding love in her life and a hardened young orphan who has lost love in his life, his mother, but wishes to regain this love by finding his estranged father. Together they escape the jungle of the city and its devouring lust for the material, to the seemingly void terrain of the "Sertao" in a search for the child's father. In contrast to the hustling chaos of the Rio Central Train Station, where they first met, the desolation of this wilderness is hidden the possibilities for regeneration and a new life.
Rating:
Summary: Remember Cinema Paradiso? Well, this one's even better!
Review: Very few times does a movie get as deep as "Central Station" is able to get. From the very beginning you feel that it is going to grab you, and it's not hard to let the tears roll by at so many point throughout the movie. Fernanda Montenegro's performance is awesome, but we're accostumed to her doing this. However, the kid is as natural as one can get. It's hard not to feel for him what the woman in the movie felt... Also, it should be noted that the photography was simply extraordinary! Beautiful shots that are complemented with some great acting and equally beautiful music, under a great direction. In short, a classic before our eyes. You won't regret buying it!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: This was the tragic story of a poor woman from Brazil trying to help an rophan find his father. It is very tragic but I reccomend it to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Vivid images, captivating story of heart and soul
Review: Fernanda Montenegro was superb in the performance as a letter writer for the illiterate in central station. Dora performs this job in a perfunctory manner, sharing content with a friend, mocking, criticizing, choosing which letters to actually send. She is cold and impersonal. She feels obligated for a young boy whose mother just died and after "selling" him to an unsavory orphanage she retrieves him. Dora's plight is filled with her own pain of the "drunkard" of a father who abandoned her and the death of her own mother. And so, the journey begins to get Joshue back to his father regardless of his reputation. Wonderful images and realism of life in Brazil project. Great human interest story! Great performances by Fernanda and the child.
Rating:
Summary: Instant Worldwide Classic
Review: From the opening frame of "Central Station," the spell of emotional, spiritual enchantment begins. This film is a marvel strictly for its simplicity, for its faithfulness to the reality of human experience, for its authenticity in depicting Brazilian city life, and, not least, for its stunning performances. Fernanda Montenegro is a shimmering jewel, a credit to her nation, a brilliant interpreter and sorceresss of the screen. She is nothing short of captivating. No actress since Giulietta Masina can act with the whole self as Fernanda can in this film. This is a must-have for any serious film collector, and the DVD version is out and out stunning. I think it was far and away a better film than "Life Is Beautiful,"... that shocking piece of celluloid ham.
Rating:
Summary: Tragedy, Friendship, Love...Brazilian Style
Review: Possibly the best foreign film to come out of Brazil since the days of "Pixote," and "Black Orpheus," "Central Station" is a heartbreaking account of a retired school teacher who befriends a recently-orphaned boy at Rio de Janiero's bus terminal. Fernanda Montenegro is fabulous as Dora, a single woman who lives her life for herself. Vincius de Oliveira, who plays Josue, is amazing in his first starring role. Personally, I feel that Montenegro was robbed of the Best Actress Oscar due to Gwyneth Paltrow's popularity that year, and it is a tragedy, for her performance is powerful. The film was also robbed of the Best Foreign Language Oscar due to Roberto Benigni's annoying antics and Miramax's powerful lobbying. The film which takes you from the beautiful Braganza-era buildings of Rio to the Brazilian hinterlands is like a dream. The vastness and beauty of Brazil and its' inhabitants are covered with sensitivity and grace by director Walter Salles. It was refreshing to see many of Brazil's sprawling developments, many which were created by the militry junta that ruled the country from the 1960's to 1980's due to lower density rates in major costal cities and to protect the country's borders from communist insurgents in the Guianas. If you need a good tearjerker in the tradition of the Color Purple, please see this masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Central Station
Review: This movie was an incredibly delightful watch, that truly spoke to the viewer with FEELING. If you are a love-only sci-fi/action/suspense/thriller type, then this is definitely not for you. it contains none of that poop. it is one of the best less publicized movies. i really could put it up there with Life is Beautiful.
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