Portuguese Title: Ano em Que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias, O
Director: Cao Hamburger
Screenwriters: Claudio Galperin, Braulio Mantovani, Anna Muylaert, Cao Hamburger
Producer: Jeff Most
Starring: Michel Joelsas, Germano Haiut, Caio Blat, Daniela Piepszyk, Liliana Castro
MPAA Rating: PG for thematic material, mild language, brief suggestive content, some violence and smoking.
Running time: 110 min

A select few movies are able to tell a beautiful sad story in such a way that they truly touch the viewers heart. The Year my Parents Went on Vacation is one such movie. Cao Hamburger delivers a heartwarming coming of age tale with a social study of a multicultural society that is in a state of flux.

The film tells the story of Mauro (Michel Joelsas), a 12 year old boy who is left by his parents on his grandfather’s door step in 1970 Brazil with the instructions to tell everyone that they have simply gone on vacation. Mauro and the audience are not directly told that they are leaving him because they are political activists and all that Mauro is able to learn is that they will return in time for the World Cup. His parents leave and he heads up to meet his grandfather. Mauro soon discovers that his grandfather has passed away and he is now alone. Mauro is taken in by the neighbor of his grandfather, Shlomo (Germano Haiut) and the other Jewish tenants of the building. Mauro slowly comes to terms with his new life but he is convinced that his parents will return so he is not willing to fully integrate himself into the new community.

What makes The Year my Parents Went on Vacation a truly compelling movie is that Mauro is a very well developed character. He is not just a rambunctious young boy who gets into trouble by himself but is in fact a child who is placed in a situation that he is just not able to understand. He does not realize that his parents me be gone from his life forever nor does he understand why they have left him. The confusion and the emotions of young Mauro play out before the viewers in a truly thoughtful way.

While this is all happening to Mauro we are given a glimpse into Brazil 1970. This is a time of turmoil for Brazil when leftist activists were being persecuted by the militaristic government. The summer of 1970 is also a time when all of Brazil came together as their soccer team won the World Cup. The contrasting aspects of Brazil provide an extremely intriguing backdrop to the story of Mauro. The only fault with the movie that some may find is that it does not feel the need to explain what is truly going on. We are only given glimpses into the political turmoil when Mauro himself witnesses. Like Mauro we do not truly understand everything and truthfully we are not meant to. For all the growing and maturing that Mauro does he is just unable to understand why everything is happening. In the end we are left with a feeling that Mauro is going to look back upon this time with a sense of wonder. If he truly understood what was happening this would not be the case.

The Year my Parents Went on Vacation was nominated for Best Foreign Language film at this past year’s Oscars. It is a shame that this movie did not win as it deserves any recognition that it can garner and is a worthy addition to film fan’s DVD libraries.

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