Slumming it with passion

Set in the bustling slums and waterfront of Bahia, Brazilian director Sérgio Machado's film makes up with pure passion for what it lacks in coherence. It is a debut that could only come from Latin America, where the best film-makers are particularly good at illustrating the lives of the underclass without patronising them.

Alice Braga plays a young stripper who entertains men on the side to make a bit more money. The 20-year-old has, she says, bills to pay. Invited by two men on to their boat for the journey to Salvador de Bahia, where work is less scarce, she sleeps with both as payment for the trip.

The men (Lázaro Ramos and Wagner Moura) are petty hustlers, too. One tries his luck as a boxer, the other robs pharmacies of expensive drugs. They both fall for the girl who, equally, seems to fall for both men. The trio form an obsessive friendship, trying to protect each other from major harm.

Machado's steamy sex scenes, which have given him an 18 certificate, are not what his film is about. Nor is it an exposure of the living conditions of waterfront hustlers and prostitutes.

It is actually about people who are fundamentally alone and need each other more than they at first expect. The performances are fine and the film-making intense and atmospheric. There is no definite conclusion. But, then, that's life.

Lower City (Cidade Baixa)
Cert: 18