FRI 3 MARCH

7.30pm
NOA Community Centre (Ferry Centre)
Summertown, Oxford

Dora (Fernanda Montenegro) is a lonely and cynical older woman who spends her days writing letters for illiterate customers at Rio de Janeiro's Central Station. Initially shown as selfish and uncaring, we see her begin to change when she reluctantly befriends a homeless orphan, Josué (Vinicius de Oliveira). By degrees, her encounter with Josué not only stirs her conscience but also gradually softens the armour which, over the years, has hardened around her soul. Making herself increasingly vulnerable - both physically and emotionally - as she takes ever greater risks to protect him, she eventually agrees to help Josué search for the father he's never known.

The road trip that they undertake is an odyssey in which things go from bad to worse, yet the often faltering bond between Dora and Josué slowly but surely deepens. While the young Josué learns through her to become more street-wise, it is the gradual opening of Dora's heart that grips us throughout this movie. Each time she tries to extricate herself from her involvement with the young boy, she is drawn back once more through painful wrestling with her own demons. Through this intense inner struggle, we see her transform herself from the heartless and self-seeking woman of the beginning of the film to Josué's radiant guardian angel by the end.

Central Station received a Golden Globe as Best Foreign Language Film and Fernanda Montenegro was nominated as Best Actress for the 1998 Academy Award. Director Walter Salles has given us a stunning film - a tough, unglamorous and profoundly moving story of the redemption of the human spirit.

£6.00 (Friends £3.00)