# Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures
**Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures** (Portuguese: *Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus*) is a 2005 Brazilian fiction film, 99 minutes long, directed and co-written by Marcelo Gomes. Set in 1942 in the arid backlands (sertão) of northeast Brazil, it follows Johann, a German who has fled the war in Europe, and Ranulpho, a Brazilian leaving the drought-stricken region, as they travel from village to village showing films to audiences who have never seen cinema, in order to sell a newly launched "miracle" medicine, aspirin.[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/) The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival as Gomes's first feature[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/) and went on to win the jury prizes for best film and best actor at the 29th Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo.[2](https://mostra.org/arquivo/filme/11823)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title / year | *Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus*, Brazil, 2005, fiction, 99 minutes[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/) |
| Director and screenplay | Marcelo Gomes, with Paulo Caldas and Karim Aïnouz; Gomes's first feature[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/) |
| Main cast | João Miguel as Ranulpho, Peter Ketnath as Johann, Hermila Guedes as Jovelina[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/) |
| Cannes 2005 | Selected for Un Certain Regard, the sidebar for first films; received the Prêmio da Educação Nacional from the French Ministry of Education[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/) • [3](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ilustrada/ult90u51830.shtml) |
| São Paulo awards | Jury prize for best film, jury prize for best actor (João Miguel), and critics' prize for best Brazilian film at the 29th Mostra[2](https://mostra.org/arquivo/filme/11823) |
| Commercial record | Budget R$2.1 million; Brazilian box office R$882,373; about 120,000 spectators in Brazil[4](https://www.happykellyspa.com/ckfinder/userfiles/files/c67ff773-e632-46cc-ace7-ce7cbd953037.pdf) • [5](https://sampi.net.br/bauru/noticias/2540052/cultura/2006/09/juri-acerta-com----cinema--aspirinas-e-urubus) |
| Oscar run | Placed on the shortlist of 14 Brazilian films considered for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 2007 Academy Awards[5](https://sampi.net.br/bauru/noticias/2540052/cultura/2006/09/juri-acerta-com----cinema--aspirinas-e-urubus) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and setting
The story opens in 1942, in the middle of the northeastern sertão. Johann, played by the German actor Peter Ketnath, represents a pharmaceutical company in Brazil and drives a truck through the interior selling aspirin, then a recently launched drug, using a portable projector and reels of advertising film shown to villagers who have never before encountered cinema.[6](https://www.dgabc.com.br/Noticia/274999/-cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus-tem-estreia-nesta-terca-feira-na-mostra-br-) • [7](https://daviramos.com/br/cinema-aspirinas/) On one of the scorched roads he gives a lift to Ranulpho (João Miguel), a hitchhiker abandoning his land because of the drought, who talks his way into a job as Johann's assistant.[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/) • [8](https://iffr.com/en/distribution/2017/films/cinema-aspirins-and-vultures)
The two men travel the dusty roads of an archaic hinterland, and an unlikely friendship develops as they learn to respect their differences.[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/) • [2](https://mostra.org/arquivo/filme/11823) The background threat builds through radio news carried in Johann's van: Germany has torpedoed Brazilian ships, Brazil enters the war on the side of the Allies, and all German nationals are ordered to turn themselves in, forcing Johann to decide whether to return to his country or stay in Brazil.[8](https://iffr.com/en/distribution/2017/films/cinema-aspirins-and-vultures) • [9](https://www.papodecinema.com.br/filmes/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/detalhes)
## Production
Marcelo Gomes, born in [Pernambuco](https://www.edgepedia.org/pernambuco) in 1963 and trained in cinema at Bristol University in England, made this his first feature after directing the short films *Maracatu, Maracatus* (1994) and *Clandestina Felicidade* (1998).[10](https://mostra.org/CATALOGO_49_MOSTRA.pdf) He had previously been known mainly as a co-screenwriter for Karim Aïnouz, whose *Madame Satã* (2002) he worked on.[7](https://daviramos.com/br/cinema-aspirinas/)
The film was inspired by a true travel account of Ranulpho Gomes, which the director discovered in his own family tree, and it was shot entirely in the interior of Paraíba.[11](https://www.papodecinema.com.br/filmes/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/critica) Production came from REC Produtores Associados and Dezenove Som e Imagens, with Sara Silveira, João Vieira Jr., and Maria Ionescu producing; Mauro Pinheiro Jr. was the cinematographer, Tomás Alves de Souza composed the music, and Marcos Pedroso designed the production.[2](https://mostra.org/arquivo/filme/11823) Editing is credited to Karen Harley in the Mostra catalog and by Brazilian critics, while the Cannes Festival page lists Lírio Ferreira.[2](https://mostra.org/arquivo/filme/11823) • [1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/) The drama received support from the Hubert Bals Fund.[8](https://iffr.com/en/distribution/2017/films/cinema-aspirins-and-vultures)
## Release and reception
The film premiered at Cannes in May 2005 in Un Certain Regard, the festival section that privileges first films, and there it received the Prêmio da Educação Nacional, awarded by the French Ministry of Education against a field of about 1,600 international productions.[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/) • [3](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ilustrada/ult90u51830.shtml) Because of that education prize, the film has been shown to large numbers of students in various parts of the world.[12](https://www.adorocinema.com/filmes/filme-60606/criticas/espectadores/) Before its Brazilian commercial release, it had already been sold to five countries: France, Greece, Canada, Ecuador, and Venezuela.[3](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ilustrada/ult90u51830.shtml)
At the 29th Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo in October 2005 it won the jury prizes for best film and for best actor, awarded to the Bahian actor João Miguel, and the critics' prize for best Brazilian film.[2](https://mostra.org/arquivo/filme/11823) It was also awarded at the Festival do Rio.[11](https://www.papodecinema.com.br/filmes/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/critica) Commercial release in Brazil followed on 11 November 2005.[13](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/ilustrad/fq1111200506.htm)
The film's commercial reach was modest for its honors: it cost R$2.1 million and grossed R$882,373,[4](https://www.happykellyspa.com/ckfinder/userfiles/files/c67ff773-e632-46cc-ace7-ce7cbd953037.pdf) drawing about 120,000 Brazilian spectators as an independent, low-budget production made without concessions to mainstream taste.[5](https://sampi.net.br/bauru/noticias/2540052/cultura/2006/09/juri-acerta-com----cinema--aspirinas-e-urubus) In September 2006 it was among the 14 Brazilian films shortlisted for consideration as Brazil's entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2007 Oscars.[5](https://sampi.net.br/bauru/noticias/2540052/cultura/2006/09/juri-acerta-com----cinema--aspirinas-e-urubus) • [14](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ilustrada/ult90u64531.shtml) On Rotten Tomatoes it holds an approval rating of 86 percent based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10.[4](https://www.happykellyspa.com/ckfinder/userfiles/files/c67ff773-e632-46cc-ace7-ce7cbd953037.pdf)
Reviewers emphasized the pairing of the two leads. Screen Daily's Lee Marshall, reviewing at Cannes, called it an offbeat, slow-paced buddy road movie that evokes the remote, arid northeastern provinces at a time of drought, war in Europe, and government migration schemes sending poor farmers to work the Amazon rubber plantations, and credited the script and the performances of the two then-unknown leads with giving the film notable emotional depth.[15](https://www.screendaily.com/cinema-aspirins-and-vultures-cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/4023349.article) Brazilian critic Pablo Villaça singled out João Miguel as the film's great revelation, playing Ranulpho as a good but bitter man with precise comic timing.[16](https://cinemaemcena.com.br/criticas/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus)
## Place in Brazilian cinema
The film appeared in 2005 alongside two other releases about the sertão by directors from Pernambuco, *A Máquina* by João Falcão and *Árido Movie* by Lírio Ferreira; the critic Kléber Mendonça Filho read all three as journeys into the semi-arid region seen through the eyes of outsiders, blending mystery, realism, fantasy, and a sense of loss.[17](https://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/espacoecultura/article/download/8468/6278/29937) Its local figures appear almost as a record of their accents, dress, and behavior, an interaction with inhabitants that recalls the strategy of Cinema Novo films such as *Os Fuzis*, though with different aims.[17](https://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/espacoecultura/article/download/8468/6278/29937) Later commentary has placed the film in the lineage of Cinema Novo sertão classics like *Vidas Secas* and *Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol*, honoring its predecessors without imitating them.[18](https://escotilha.com.br/cinema/filme-cinema-aspirinas-urubus-marcelo-gomes-resenha-critica/) The scholar Eduardo Valente has argued that Brazilian cinema cannot be thought of in the same way after *Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus*.[19](https://tede.utp.br/jspui/bitstream/tede/1542/2/PENSAR%20CINEMA.pdf)
Gomes's debut also changed his own standing: previously unknown as a director, he became the first Brazilian to win the São Paulo festival's top jury prize and one of the few [Brazilians](https://www.edgepedia.org/brazilians) to receive an award at Cannes that year.[13](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/ilustrad/fq1111200506.htm) He went on to direct features including *Viajo Porque Preciso, Volto Porque Te Amo* (2009, co-directed with Karim Aïnouz), *Era Uma Vez Eu, Verônica* (2012), *Joaquim* (2017), and *Paloma* (2022).[10](https://mostra.org/CATALOGO_49_MOSTRA.pdf)
## References
1. [Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus (Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures), Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/)
2. [Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus (2005), Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo](https://mostra.org/arquivo/filme/11823)
3. [Cineasta premiado em Cannes enfrenta saga para estrear no Brasil, Folha Online, 8 July 2005](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ilustrada/ult90u51830.shtml)
4. [Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus (film file with production data)](https://www.happykellyspa.com/ckfinder/userfiles/files/c67ff773-e632-46cc-ace7-ce7cbd953037.pdf)
5. [Júri acerta com 'Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus', Sampi Bauru, September 2006](https://sampi.net.br/bauru/noticias/2540052/cultura/2006/09/juri-acerta-com----cinema--aspirinas-e-urubus)
6. ['Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus' tem estréia nesta terça-feira na Mostra BR, Diário do Grande ABC, 25 October 2005](https://www.dgabc.com.br/Noticia/274999/-cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus-tem-estreia-nesta-terca-feira-na-mostra-br-)
7. [Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus, Davi Ramos, 19 December 2005](https://daviramos.com/br/cinema-aspirinas/)
8. [Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures, International Film Festival Rotterdam](https://iffr.com/en/distribution/2017/films/cinema-aspirins-and-vultures)
9. [Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus, Papo de Cinema (details)](https://www.papodecinema.com.br/filmes/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/detalhes)
10. [Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo, 49th Mostra catalog: Marcelo Gomes](https://mostra.org/CATALOGO_49_MOSTRA.pdf)
11. [Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus, Papo de Cinema (criticism by Robledo Milani)](https://www.papodecinema.com.br/filmes/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/critica)
12. [Críticas do filme Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus, AdoroCinema](https://www.adorocinema.com/filmes/filme-60606/criticas/espectadores/)
13. [Marcelo Gomes estréia na direção com o premiado 'Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus', Folha de S.Paulo, 11 November 2005](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/ilustrad/fq1111200506.htm)
14. [Diretor de 'Cinema, Aspirinas...' comemora indicação, Folha Online, 20 September 2006](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ilustrada/ult90u64531.shtml)
15. [Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures review by Lee Marshall, Screen Daily, 2 June 2005](https://www.screendaily.com/cinema-aspirins-and-vultures-cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus/4023349.article)
16. [Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus, crítica por Pablo Villaça, Cinema em Cena, 12 November 2005](https://cinemaemcena.com.br/criticas/cinema-aspirinas-e-urubus)
17. [Espaço e Cultura, UERJ, n. 33 (2013), on the sertão in three 2005 films](https://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/espacoecultura/article/download/8468/6278/29937)
18. [Os 15 anos de 'Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus', Escotilha](https://escotilha.com.br/cinema/filme-cinema-aspirinas-urubus-marcelo-gomes-resenha-critica/)
19. [Pensar Cinema, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná](https://tede.utp.br/jspui/bitstream/tede/1542/2/PENSAR%20CINEMA.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2000s › Biographical and historical drama films 2000s › Released 2000 to 2005*
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