ORIUNDI

The title means ?natives,? but most of the ethnic-patchwork society of Brazil are anything but. When the century was still young, Giuseppe Padovani migrated from Europe to the Brazilian seaside town of Curitiba. He brought with him nothing ? save for his lovely bride Caterina ? and built a profitable pasta factory, the backbone of a family dynasty. But the elder Padovani has never been quite the same since Caterina's tragic, early death in a plane crash, and now the patriarch's 93rd birthday reunion is an occasion for bittersweet reflection. While his son and adult grandson squabble about the future of the business, Giuseppe's thoughts return repeatedly to the past, to Caterina. And no wonder, because a distant relative from Italy, Sofia, seems to know uncanny details about Giuseppe's long-lost love. Preoccupied with their own problems, the Padovani family scarcely notice their patriarch behaving oddly, shedding his wheelchair and learning to walk again, sensing strength and bliss he hasn't known for 70 years… Soothing as the dawn on a tranquil morning tide, Ricardo Bravo's sedate and supernaturally-edged love story crowns a fine ensemble cast with screen legend Anthony Quinn, clearly enjoying a star turn worthy of his seven decades on celluloid. (In Italian and Portuguese with English subtitles.)