The Middle of the World

Vicente Amorim's 2003 Brazilian film follows a family of seven setting out on a journey of more than three thousand kilometres by bicycle. Romão, illiterate and unemployed, believes he can find work and build a decent life in Rio de Janeiro, and takes his family with him. The film is inspired by a real news story and presents the journey not as adventure but as a test of endurance. At the centre is the family dynamic: the father played by Wagner Moura does not realise he is consuming his wife and children to keep his dream going. The mother played by Cláudia Abreu is the one carrying reality. The images of Brazil's dry interior complete the film's argument: the road is long and the landscape stays the same. Who it's for: viewers who like Brazilian road films and stories of poverty and migration. Who it's not for: anyone expecting the journey to end in a reward, or not reckoning with how wearing it is to watch the father's stubbornness.