Brazil's entry to this year's Best Foreign Film competition at the Oscars (Me, You, Them  wasn't nominated) is set in a remote area in the northeast part of the country.  It's extremely flat, barren, burnt and desolate, and its inhabitants live well below the poverty level.  Hammocks are the rage because nobody can afford a proper bed, which is a good thing because the film's main character jumps from man to man so quickly, she'd probably have broken one or two of them.

As the film opens, a pregnant woman named Darlene (Regina Case) gets stood up at the altar.  She hitches a ride out of town and, three years later, returns with her son in the hopes of having her mother bless him.  But she's too late.  Her mom has died, and Darlene finds herself fighting off marriage proposals from an old man named Osias (Lima Duarte). "You're not ugly," he declares, "Marry me."  She accepts, largely because he has a nice house.  Ah, to be in love.

Osias doesn't treat Darlene too well, using her basically to perform the cooking, cleaning and baby-birthing (they have one child together).  This drives the attention-starved Darlene into the arms of her husband's live-in cousin, Zezinho (Stênio Garcia).  He and Darlene have an affair, and a kid of their own, and the whole process repeats itself when the hunky young Ciro (Luís Carlos Vasconcelos) shows up.

The men are all jealous of each other, but nobody really ever shows it. They're all just happy to be involved in Darlene's life for some reason.  She's a radiant woman - not conventionally attractive, especially by Hollywood standards, but special enough for a group of men not to act like...well, men, and beat their chests to win her affection.

Them is full of long stretches with no dialogue, giving the film a very high nod-off factor.  It's kind of like a baseball game - the ball is only in play for about 10 minutes.  The dialogue picks up toward the end, but until then, you'll be able to enjoy the film's wonderful scenery and cinematographer Breno Silveira's exquisite compositions bathed in natural light.  Gilberto Gil provides a soothing score that gives the film a real flavor.  Director Andrucha Waddington keeps things interesting with a series of long shots that enhance the film's beauty.  Them may not be for everyone, but fans of polygamy and Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami should thoroughly enjoy it.

1:44 –

for sexuality and thematic content