After failing to be admitted into the renowned Sao Paulo Symphonic Orchestra, Laerte, a talented violinist, is forced to give music classes to teenagers in a public school in Heliopolis, the biggest favela of Brazil.BEATRIZ LEFEVRE
Laerte (Lazaro Ramos) is a driven, rude, former violin prodigy who can't afford his condo fees and chokes at his audition for the Symphony Orchestra of Sao Paulo, Brazil (OSESP). When he decides to teach orchestra classes to teenagers in Heliopolis, the largest favela in Sao Paulo, you can predict every note to follow. Will the kids be unruly because they lack self-respect? Will music soothe their savage breasts? (A cliché, I know, but Laerte actually quotes it in the film.) Will there be a sweet kid with natural talent? Will his stern father try to prevent him from playing? Will his criminal friends' credit-card scheme put him in mortal danger from a thug called Skeleton? Will a second OSESP audition threaten to pull Laerte away just before the students' big concert? On the plus side, the music is lovely, the favela setting adds energy and texture, and many of the kids are terrific natural actors. Even so, this song is all too familiar – call it To Sir, With Strings.