One of my all time favorites.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

This movie is garbage, and Lula is just a thief.Nothing more than political propaganda to fool innocent people.

An amazing movie, incredible acting, gut wrenching and extremely interesting. Being somewhat politically naive about world affairs and living in North America, I did not even realize when I borrowed the movie that it was about former president of Brazil. RECOMMEND

I was quite disoriented reading the four reviews on this film. Only four reviews. Very sad, but I'm afraid that only Hollywood movies get hundreds of reviews, no matter how bad they are. And I say that I was quite disoriented because the only four reviews are from Brazil, and quite severe they are. Could it be true that nobody is a prophet in his own country? it has to be, because I found this movie to be EXCELLENT!!The transition between the boy and the adult Lula is quite impressive, both actors could very well be the same person when the years go by and the boy becomes an adult.Gloria Pires is such a magnificent actress!! and quite contained. The actor that plays Lula's father is really amazing, not knowing him from previous works, one believes that he's really Lula's father, fantastic interpretation!!Everybody is excellent and so is the camera work, the editing, the color photography, etc. As far as I remember I've never been disappointed by a Brazilian movie. I think that Brazilian films are among the best in the world. And the Portuguese language as spoken by Brazilians must be among the most delicious languages to be heard, not to mention their music, absolutely ravishing!! (Do I sound like a fan of Brazil?).

The story is about the life of Brazilian President (2003-2010) Luis Inácio Lula da Silva. But the movie doesn't concern politics, since it ends before he becomes a politician. It is a humanistic story, very sad, based on a true story present on the book with the same name of the movie. It is always very touching to see that someone who suffered that much could end being a president.However, there are some corny scenes, very unlikely true. Moreover, Lula's father is shown very very mean, and Lula has told he was bad, but not that much.The acting of Gloria Pires I found very nice, but the child actors are not well prepared. And the main actor, Rui Ricardo Dias is never shown with his left hand open, which kind of annoys me. I think they should have used some special effects to hide his little finger (which was severed), since it is a production of 9 million dollars, the most expensive ever made in Brazil.When Lula is already a syndicalist, there are some real scenes that were taken from the excellent documentary "Linha de montagem", of Renato Tapajós. But the cinematography is different between these scenes and the filmed now, so it seems a little strange, but it is comprehensible.The one fact that really annoyed me is the credits mixed with the story in the beginning. This irritated everybody in the theater and is very unpleasant.But what matters most in a movie is the story, so how the story is outstanding, the movie is 8 out of 10. The movie "2 Filhos de Francisco" from Breno Silveira is very similar to this, but in my opinion, better directed. And those who likes Lula's biography should also watch the documentary "Entreatos", from João Moreira Salles.