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Araby

Play trailer Poster for Araby Released Jun 8, 2018 1h 37m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
93% Tomatometer 29 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
A teenager finds a Brazilian factory worker's handwritten journal that recounts a life filled with equal amounts of hardship and insight.

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Araby

Araby

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Critics Consensus

Araby peers unflinchingly into the gloom of its characters' lives to tell an undeniably grim story that builds to a poignantly affecting conclusion.

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Critics Reviews

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Tom Long Detroit News It's doubtlessly true, relentlessly dreary and certainly part of the modern conversation. The question is: Does it add anything to that conversation? Rated: C+ Oct 19, 2018 Full Review Ben Sachs Chicago Reader Araby is unmistakably contemporary in its fashions, settings, and physical behavior; the similarities to the past seem found rather than manufactured. Rated: 3/4 Aug 16, 2018 Full Review Robert Abele Los Angeles Times A beautifully turned Brazilian movie that carries on as if a social-cause documentary and a folk song confessional had entered into a poignant embrace. Aug 9, 2018 Full Review Shawn Glinis Vague Visages Uchoa and Dumans’ distanced, matter-of-fact portrayal of their vagabond renders Araby an elusive and open film. It’s particulars aren’t always announced, because — as with Bresson — the text ask viewers to meet it where it stands. Dec 13, 2023 Full Review Ken Eisner Georgia Straight The hard politics of capitalism are omnipresent, and yet that doesn't ruin the pleasure of this light-touch gem. Apr 4, 2019 Full Review Ernesto Diezmartinez Cine Vértigo "You could say that the film is not about anything but, really, it's about everything". Rated: 3/4 Mar 6, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (3) audience reviews
Thao Vy N I've always been intimidated by James Joyce's writing style. I have his novels, but I haven't read them yet because of this. Since Araby is a short narrative, I believed it would serve as a suitable introduction to the writer. I discovered the story's audiobook on the LitReading-Classic Short Stories Spotify podcast. The protagonist of the short story Araby is an anonymous boy who lives in Dublin. The story's narrator is the boy. He leads a typical life in Dublin, attending a Catholic all-boys school and living with his aunt and uncle. Every day, his pal Mangan's elder sister comes to pick him up, marking the end of their playtime together. She attracts the narrator's attention. He is satisfied with never trying to speak to her after his crush on her develops into infatuation. Rather, he daydreams about her a lot, which also takes him away from his schoolwork. One day, the sister asks him if he intends to attend the church-organized Araby Bazaar, a bazaar with an Eastern theme. He claims he's leaving and will bring her something when he gets there. The bazaar is then included in his daydreams as well. Araby is a tale of maturation. The mature tone of the narrator indicates that he is recalling an event from his teenage years. At first, the narrator appears to be unaware of the outside world, but this gradually begins to change. He frequently watches them play as an outsider since he is so enamored with the sister that he no longer wants to play with them. Additionally, he begins acting rebelliously in his interactions with his aunt, uncle, and teacher. For him, it is nearly the end of his innocence. He waits to ask for money to attend the market after realizing his uncle has returned home intoxicated. He's noticing these things now. Since his blissful innocence of life is finished and he is now maturing, he feels the urge to find a way to escape reality. The narrator of the narrative concentrates more on Mangan's sister's physical attributes. This emphasizes the narrator's developing sexuality. He hardly ever interacts with girls because he attends a Catholic school that is exclusively for boys. He falls head over heels for the sister the moment he sees her. He begins to think that what he is experiencing is both entirely new and somewhat different. There is a sort of equilibrium between his immediate, naive interest in the sister and his awareness of her physique. In the end, the narrator realizes that perhaps the majority of "love" is just vanity or a need for approval. "Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger" It's a really straightforward but moving story. Everyone can identify with the experience of leaving behind the idealism and purity of youth to embark on the journey toward adulthood. You are drawn into the story right away, and while reading it, you occasionally find yourself in the narrator, which is a lovely sensation. I thought the narrative was fantastic. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/17/24 Full Review Audience Member Bem bonitinho, amo esses filmes independentes, o dia a dia, a rotina exposta de maneira crua, um retrato sincero, um ritmo lento, mas nada que impacte negativamente, um roteiro simples, bem executado, nada grandioso, mas sensível e poético, triste, bonito, recheado de causos… E a escolha da trilha sonora, estupenda, faz doer, os depoimentos são tão reais e vívidos… Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Very original approach with the storyline playing out through Cristiano's writings on most of his adult life experiences in a working-class Brazil where there seemingly is no upward mobility. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Araby

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Cast & Crew

Bioscopewala 83% % Bioscopewala Watchlist José 86% 56% José Watchlist TRAILER for José Sin Alas 64% 100% Sin Alas Watchlist Chapter & Verse 93% 92% Chapter & Verse Watchlist TRAILER for Chapter & Verse Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis A teenager finds a Brazilian factory worker's handwritten journal that recounts a life filled with equal amounts of hardship and insight.
Director
João Dumans, Affonso Uchoa
Producer
Vitor Graize
Screenwriter
João Dumans, Affonso Uchoa
Distributor
Grasshopper Film
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Brazilian Portuguese
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 8, 2018, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 1, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA)
$37.6K
Runtime
1h 37m
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