Capitães da Areia has a serious problem: this adapted screenplay of Jorge Amado’s novel, directed by the author’s granddaughter, Cecilia Amado, is a beautiful film – and by ‘beautiful’, we mean to the Bahia Tourism Department. For a story about a gang of street children in Salvador in the 1930s, the director chooses a rather flashy brand of cinematography that employs cheap devices to bring tears to viewers’ eyes. Because of this stylistic error, the film fails properly to gel despite the efforts of a talented young cast. For a writer as important as Jorge Amado, there could be no greater disservice to his work. 
Capitães da Areia is released on DVD on 20 June 2012.