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76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
Adventures of Power
78
Afghan Star
61
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66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
As Seen Through These Eyes
76
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86
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13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star![]()
70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
64
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Behind the Sun

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 13 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Karim Ainouz
Ismaïl Kadaré (novel Broken April)
Sérgio Machado
Walter Salles
Directed by: Walter Salles
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 12, 2001
DVD: June 11, 2002
Running Time: 105 minutes, Color
Origin: Brazil / France / Switzerland
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for some violence and a scene of sexuality
Starring José Dumont, Rodrigo Santoro, Rita Assemany, Luís Carlos Vasconcelos, Ravi Ramos Lacerda, Flavia Marco Antonio, and Othon Bastos
Set in the Brazilian badlands in 1910, Behind the Sun tells the story of two families locked in a generations-old deadly feud. It started out as a battle over land, but now it's escalated into a series of reprisals that is claiming the lives of the young men on both sides. (Miramax Films)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Central Station Dark Water The Motorcycle Diaries
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Production Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
LA Weekly Ernest Hardy
That tragedy looms heavily in Behind the Sun only makes its life-affirming moments -- resonate more deeply and powerfully in a film that is one of the year's best.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Carvalho's superb cinematography, Antonio Pinto's score and a dedicated cast and crew admirably sustain this poetic and uncompromising film.
Read Full Review >New Times (L.A.) Luke Y. Thompson
Beautiful to watch and universal in theme by any name.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
A compelling existential tableau: sweating bodies, creaking mills turned by numbed oxen, people facing the daily and seasonal cycles of life with little hope of breaking free. Behind the Sun is forceful stuff.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Mark Caro
When a culture offers little more than death upon death, appreciating life's everyday beauty is as good an answer as these characters -- and this filmmaker -- can provide.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Jessica Winter
The movie's subject is brotherly love in all its extremes; the trajectory is grimly inevitable, and yet its final descent still manages to startle.
Read Full Review >Variety David Rooney
Consummately crafted and stunningly shot in magnificent locations deep in Brazil's remote northeastern badlands, the film unapologetically courts the commercial curve of the international arthouse arena with its rustic exotica and sensory overload of poetic imagery, giving it something of a grandiose air.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
Salles is a master storyteller, and the film's pacing is flawless.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
This movie is more emotionally remote than Salles' fine "Central Station." But it is starkly beautiful and says something potent to a world in which nations, like these families, engage in mindless blood feuds.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Renee Graham
This is a deeper film, delving into the twisted motives that rule lives, the lethal cycles that shackle progress, and, ultimately, the courage it takes to choose life.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
This tale is both redemptive and tragic, if occasionally melodramatic.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
The blend of grim violence with romantic whimsy tilts toward sentimentality. Mr. Salles has the confidence of a storyteller too entranced by his tale to worry about the resistance of his audience, which he thus effortlessly overcomes.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
The story, which was inspired by an Albanian novel and the Greek tragedies of Aeschylus, ends with a literary patness. But it's still a potent tale of fraternal love and the loss of innocence.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Chris Barsanti
A film with a bare-bones story told with such potency that its occasional flights of heavy-handed symbolism are easily excused.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
It's all so visceral that it overwhelms the near-abstract story and smothers what passes for characters.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
It has some of the simplicity and starkness of classical tragedy, but what made me impatient was its fascination with the macho bloodlust of the two families.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Hank Sartin
The appearance of circus performers in any film not by Fellini usually bodes ill, and it does so here.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Diana gave it a9:
Impressive images and well-told story.
Imran gave it a9:
Unbelievably wel knitted film... extraordinary scoring... marvellous acting & a wonderful grip on direction & story.... haven't seen a movie like this in years !
Vincent D. gave it a 9:
This movie makes you think and ponder on things and how life can be complicated depending on the culture, traditions, and family ties. but most of all, the film showed us the realization of the costs of pride and how can one simple decision make a difference in breaking the entire cycle.
Clovis S. gave it a 10:
This is a great movie, i just wanna say that everybory need to see this, because is just beautiful!!
Corine G. gave it a 10:
I love this movie! I've watched it five times already and I just can't get enough!
Pepe B. gave it a 10:
I loved the deep love between the two brothers and the sacrifice one another makes to spend as much time as posslbe- It it a symbol a vicious cycle until until some gutsy person decides to break free- like the kid that dies at the end and the older boy that breaks away from their family...they both reach a type of freedom...
Andre R. gave it a 10:
Walter Salles is a GENIOUS!
