Bog of Beasts revolves around a greedy, narrow-minded Grandfather who uses his deceased daughter's child for money. Sure she does all the work around the house, but she's also forced into stripping her clothes off and standing nude in front of horny, perverted men. With another sub-plot revolving around Brazilian playboys (spoiled rich kids) who do nothing but drink, do drugs and bang whores, the story gives us a very intimate view into Brazil's prostitution circuit and the people who are intertwined within it.
The production values are fantastic. With stunningly gorgeous shots of the more tropical and rural parts of Brazil, the cinematography really works well. It's funny how they change it up from sleazy parties with lewd acts to beautiful backdrops with rivers and palm trees. The acting is pretty much perfect as well. With the pervert Grandpa having a great performance and our pal, Carrot, from City of God is again show-casing his great acting skills.
The movie's production values and acting is all fantastic stuff, but the story was somewhat of a let-down, and pretty predictable. The movie does have some explicit scenes involving child molestation and rape but it's nothing so crazy it will ruin the movie. The scenes are all realistic, which is also a good thing, but the story itself, just felt very familiar. And it didn't really go anywhere. By the middle of the flick, I had a very good idea where it'd be heading, and I wasn't wrong. Not to say the story was told poorly, but it just didn't do much for me. Though, I am curious to how much prostitution and child prostitution with assistance from family members is abound in Brazil. Obviously, it takes place all over the world, but I'm assuming in Brazil (because of this movie) it may be a little worse that most.
Nevertheless, the movie works the majority of the time, and I enjoyed all actors. One minor problem, why were they calling that incredibly gorgeous woman a "vulture"? That was some bad casting right there. She's most likely some type of super model....oh well. It was nice seeing her naked briefly though. Bog of Beasts is a somewhat tedious flick, with a strong message behind it. If you're into serious drama, then I'd recommend you give it a look.
