Impressions: 'The Year My Parents Went on Vacation': A film by Cao Hamburger
The Year My Parents Went on Vacation concerns itself with Brazil’s military dictatorship as seen through the eyes of an eleven year old boy. Mauro is left with his grandfather as his parents — who are implied communists — go on ‘vacation’. They essentially leave the boy to protect him from whatever it is they are involved with and to keep secret where they are going.
The boy learns his grandfather had died through his grandfather’s neighbor Shlomo, a Polish Jewish immigrant living in a Jewish neighborhood of São Paulo. Mauro is not Jewish, and understands very little about Jewish religion and culture. Not wanting the responsibility of looking after the boy, Shlomo reluctantly takes on the role of surrogate father as he tries to track down Mauro’s parents.
The story is set around the time of the 1970 World Cup and everyone — and I mean everyone — is glued to the game. 1970 is the year Brazil wins the World Cup for the third time and in a way the game becomes a metaphor for Brazilian society at the time. There is a climate of fear and oppression, but Mauro doesn’t understand anything that’s going on around him. All he wants is for his parents to come home to him.
It’s a very heartwarming story, one which makes one contemplate a lot of things. It also serves as a shot across the bow for those in America who feel ‘it can’t happen here’. A truly wonderful film.
The Year My Parents Went on Vacation is available here.