/ARTS WEEKLY/ FILM-BRAZIL: Local Heartthrob Goes International

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 27 2003 (IPS) - Brazil has a new "international leading man" to compete in foreign film markets, or at the very least to help fight Hollywood’s domination of the cinematic markets at home.

Rodrigo Santoro can be seen in the United States in the made-for-TV film "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone", being shown this month by the Showtime cable movie channel.

This is the second film adaptation of the only novel written by U.S. playwright Tennessee Williams. The first dates back to 1961, with U.S. stars Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty in the leading roles.

In the new version, directed by Robert Ackerman, Santoro plays a young Italian beggar who lost everything in World War II, and follows – tattered and silent – a down-on-her-luck U.S. actress retired in Rome, played by Helen Mirren.

This week Santoro is appearing on the big screens across the United States as well, appearing in "Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle", which is not slated to premiere in his native Brazil until July, where the title has been changed to "Panteras II".

Santoro insists on pointing out that he has only a brief presence in "Charlie’s Angels", appearing as a villain in two scenes. The film is based on the television series that was popular in the 1970s and stars Demi Moore, Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu, among others.

The actor, already super-famous in Brazil, also plays the role of architect in the British comedy scheduled to premiere in November, "Love Actually", starring Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson.

At 27, Santoro has nine years’ experience in Brazilian television dramas and has established himself as the country’s leading "sex symbol" on the big and small screens alike.

Currently he is working on the TV series "Mulheres Apaixonadas" (Passionate Women), which is broadcast at the prime-viewing hour – 8:30 pm – by the Globo network. And he appears in numerous television ads for beer, shoes and other products.

In Brazilian films, Santoro has played a variety of dramatic roles, including a transvestite nicknamed "Lady Di" in the film "Carandirú", in theatres for the past six weeks and the biggest box office success of a nationally-made film in the past 20 years, drawing more than 3.5 million Brazilians to date.

The "wedding" of Lady Di and a short and unattractive fellow prisoner, applauded by gays, is one of the standout scenes of the film, which portrays daily life in the overcrowded Carandirú prison in downtown Sao Paulo, ending with a re-enactment of the 1992 massacre in which police killed at least 111 inmates.

Thin, yet physically fit, with dark, straight hair and a youngish face that can pass for adolescent, Santoro maintains his strong presence and sensuality even in the roles in which he appears ragged and tortured, in an almost savage state.

Such is the case of the Showtime movie "Mrs. Stone" and the two films that made him an award-winning actor in Brazil: "Bicho de sete cabeças" (Seven-headed monster) and "Abril despedazado" (Broken April).

In the first, Santoro plays a young student whose father sends him to a psychiatric hospital after he catches him smoking marijuana.

"Bicho de sete cabeças", based on a real case and directed by Lais Bodansky – a member of the "new generation" -, serves as a manifesto against psychiatric institutions that continue to use outdated electroshock therapy methods and medications that harm the mental health of the patients instead of helping them to recover.

"Abril despedazado", by Walter Salles, the award-winning director of "Central Station", shows a perspiring Santoro who works long days in a sugar mill, and who kills the landowner who assassinated his younger brother. Based on a novel by Albania’s Ismael Kadare, it was adapted to the history and traditions of Brazil’s impoverished northeast.

With this work under his belt, Santoro made a place for himself among the many Brazilian actors chosen for their attractiveness and charisma to work in the latest Globo television dramas.

The "leading man" was recognised with best actor awards at the Brasilia and Recife film festivals in 2000 for his role in "Bicho de sete cabeças".