City Lights Pictures presents a film by Cao Hamburger. The Year My Parents Went on Vacation stars Michel Joelsas, Germano Haiut, Simone Spoladore, Eduardo Moreira, and Caio Blat. This picture was written by Adriana Falcão, Claudio Galperin, Cao Hamburger, Bráulio Mantovani, and Anna Muylaert. The film is presented in Portuguese, Yiddish, and German with English Subtitles. It runs 105 minutes and has an MPAA rating of PG.
Eleven-year-old Mauro’s parents are on the run in Brazil in 1970. With authorities closing in on the young Communist couple, they find themselves with no other option but to drop Mauro with his Grandfather as they flee “on vacation”. When the Grandfather is unable to care for the boy, Mauro finds himself in the care of his Grandfather’s neighbor, Shlomo, an aging Orthodox Jew. While his parents had promised to return before the finals of the World Cup, Mauro awaits their return as he watches the World Cup playoffs and becomes a member of the neighborhood youth.
The Year My Parents Went on Vacation is well filmed on location in three different Brazilian cities. The film is well edited, highlighting strong performances from the two primary characters played by Michel Joelsas and Germano Haiut.
The Year My Parents Went on Vacation is an interesting story. Mauro, very well played by Michel Joelsas, is absorbed by football – as we find is most of Brazil. He does not really understand why his parents are going on vacation and leaving him with his Grandfather. He does not understand that their lives are in danger because of their political beliefs.
Much like I’m Not Scared, this story is told from the boy’s perspective. It is not as good as that film, but it is moderately engaging, leaving one with the feeling that there could have been more. There are almost too many plot lines – where are the parents and why have they “gone on vacation”, who will win the World Cup, who will be taken and beaten by the governmental regime, and who will ultimately care for this boy who finds himself alone in the world?
There is a touch of a universal story as well – boys in adolescence seeking to know more about the adult world and adults banding together to care for a child who seems to have been abandoned by his parents. There is a little history, a bit of coming of age, and a look at how this boy’s childhood, while very different from our own, is also not so different. It is a bit of a universal story told in a very particular and unique situation. This is not a great film, but it is good and worth your 105 minutes.