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• [Editor's note: Over the course of the 2008 calender, Ioncinema.com will be launching regional monthly news capsules from film journalists from around the globe and today we focus on a film nation that has had bragging rights since Walter Salles' Central Station and Fernando Meirelles City Of God. Bruno Bragança is our newest member to join the team - he'll be reporting on the latest film offerings from his country and keeping our readers up to date with local and international news from the country that gives us great tans and some wicked football players.] Brazil at Home: Johnny kick-starts 2008 2008 began well to the Brazilian cinema industry. In a little bit more than a month, Brazil has a new hit: "Meu nome nao e Johnny" (My Name Ain't Johnny). The movie, was released in a limited release, has gained a bigger distribution resulting in several weeks in highest positions of the charts. According to the website of the newspaper “O Globo”, the film tends to have a promising future, even better than the 2007’s hit “Elite Squad”, considering the number of the viewers in their first weeks. It’s already the 9th most viewed Brazilian movie in history. Still, there are no news about a possible international distribution but the box office looks like this (grossed 16 million reais ($9.4 million) and sold 1.8 million tickets by Feb. 17, in its seventh weekend.) The movie, an adaptation of the biography with the same title, tells the story of

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NEW YORK -- This Brazilian thriller by one-time Cinema Novo prime mover Nelson Pereira Dos Santos is a cool and collected look at government corruption. It is a clever weave of suspense and politics, which keeps an even hand between social commentary and genre plotting. Audiences here might find it too wordy and action-free for a thriller and might be confused by a pervasive Magic Realist element. But it is still intriguing enough to find a home in select upscale urban theaters.

The film played in narrative competition at the recent Tribeca Film Festival.

No one is innocent and corruption is everywhere is the theme of the piece. A Brazilian doctor Carlos Alberto Riccelli) flies from Los Angeles back to Brazil to identify the corpse of a murdered girl. After some initial investigations, he concludes that it is not the right corpse. But political pressure and finally violence encourage him to sign the relevant documents anyway. Along the way, he has a quiet romance and meets with a number of shifty politicians, all of who have something to hide. Psychological depth is added by frequent appearances by the ghost of his wife, who watches over him like a guardian angel.

Shots and structure are straightforward -- Clint Eastwood's economical directorial style comes to mind -- and audiences here might miss the camera trickery and shocks that have crept into the genre. The light jazz soundtrack also is very distracting, especially in the erotic scenes, though this might be an attempt to pay homage to the genre.

Characters are strong and sexy, and the portrayal of corrupt and nervy politicos is wryly amusing. Dos Santos' low-key approach becomes increasingly alluring, and "Brasilia 18%" ultimately succeeds as a good story well told.