The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (Portuguese: O Ano em Que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias) is a 2006 Brazilian drama film directed by Cao Hamburger.
Mauro, a 12-year-old boy, is suddenly deprived of the company of his young parents, Bia and Daniel Stein, who are political activists on the run from the harsh military government, which was strongly repressing leftists all over the country.
Against this backdrop of fear and political persecution, the country is at the same time bursting with enthusiasm for the upcoming World Cup, to be held in Mexico, the first one to be transmitted live via satellite.
Unable to take care of their only child, the Steins, who live in Belo Horizonte, drive all the way to São Paulo to deliver the boy to his paternal grandfather, Mótel, who is a barber.
He gradually mixes in with other neighborhood children and becomes acquainted with a number of colorful characters, including Hanna, a girl his age; Ítalo, a politically active student from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo; Irene, a beautiful female bartender and her boyfriend, the mulatto ace goalkeeper of one of the local football teams; the local rabbi and assorted Jewish elders, Italian immigrants, and so on.
[16]: 72 In the program for the 2007 Berlinale, Hamburger is quoted as stating that his intent was to examine the mythos surrounding the 1970 Brazilian team as well as to attempt to dispel prejudices that Brazil is limited to "Indios, the jungle and the favelas.
[23] The official tabulation from the Agência Nacional do Cinema on a report for films produced from 1995 to 2011 showed a public audience count of 368,986 with a box office of R$3,169,763.
[28] The firm then took charge of selling distribution rights,[29] such as to Vértigo Films in Spain and to Indie Circle, which covered France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Marcelo Hessel, writing for Omelete, mentioned that the press release for The Year... did note inspiration from Kamchatka as well as directors Steven Spielberg and Sergio Leone.
[8] Eduardo Valente, writing for Revista Cinética, praised the film for its handling of the social and political turmoil of 1970s Brazil without being heavy-handed in its execution, focusing on the characters rather than the environment.
[39] Ailton Monteiro, writing for ScoreTrack, gave the film four out of four stars and mentioned how Hamburger captured the mixed feelings that come with winning the World Cup among the political discord that permeated Brazil in 1970.
[40] Marcelo Sobrinho for Plano Crítico points out that the film doesn't spend time in either debauchery or denouncing the regime; rather it is focused on Brazil's melancholy.
[41] Yara Fernandes, writing for Opinião Socialista, stated that while showing the perils of a dictatorship and political turmoil in Latin America from a child's perspective wasn't a new concept, contrasting that familiar narrative with the atmosphere in Brazil surrounding the 1970 World Cup created "a great national film" that also explained how Médici's regime exploited the Brazilian love of football as a cover for repression.
[7] Thomas Boeira, writing for Papo de Cinema (pt), stated the choice to view the political turmoil of 1970 from a child's perspective is what made the film so interesting.
Boeira does, however, note that there are some issues within the film, such as Schlomo and Mauro's relationship development, which he calls "predictable", and moments which he stated at times felt more like watching a serial's narrative.
Joaquim's review emphasized that the human element in the film set it apart from other contemporary Latin American productions that sought to use the same perspective of a child's naiveté as a lens.
[48] Greg Ursic, writing for Westender, stated that Hamburger employed a deliberate pacing in the film, focusing on positivity and unifying force of "the nationalist spirit" even while showing how Médici exploited the Brazilian love of soccer to distract the public from the jailing of his political opponents.
[50] Katherine Monk, syndicated by the Canwest News Service, described the film as "politically correct" and stated that Daniel is more interested in revolution than in "watching sports on television".
Monk did comment on Hamburger's use of Mauro's gradual acceptance into his new environment as a vehicle to incrementally move the focus of the film to the broader picture of Brazil's political turmoil.
The website's critical consensus states: "Hamburger deftly refracts the sociopolitical tumult of early '70s Brazil through the lens of a young boy's coming of age, and Joelsas' performance is wise beyond his years".
[56] Kirk Honeycutt, syndicated by the Associated Press, also reviewed the film after its debut at Berlinale, praising it for its subtlety and for not relying on a sense of nostalgia to make its points.
[62] Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe found the film lacking, stating that Hamburger limited himself to the scope of the 1970 World Cup despite demonstrating his understanding of a child's psyche and "some of the finer points of childhood".
[64] Lawrence Toppman of The Charlotte Observer gave the film three out of four stars, pointing out that Hamburger uses the constant presence of the police without openly revealing their intentions to create a vague sense of danger.
[65] John Beifuss, writing for The Commercial Appeal, found the film to be an accurate depiction of the loneliness an adolescent can feel, and noted that the way the tension of political strife builds before Mauro becomes fully cognizant of it allows the viewer to keenly experience his loss of innocence.
[80] In the 2007 Prêmio ACIE de Cinema, The Year... won for Best Film and Best Screenplay, as well as the Popular Jury Award; it had also been nominated in the Best Director, Best Actor (for Michel Joelsas), and Best Cinematography categories.
[81] The Year... also won the Grand Coral second prize at the 29th Havana Film Festival in December 2007,[82] as well as Best Score (Beto Villares),[83] and the Cybervote Award for Best First Fiction Work.