Top 10 Portuguese Movies That Will Knock You Off Your Feet

Enjoying your Portuguese lessons, huh?

Oh, yes, Portuguese is a magnificent language. Passionate and joyful, too.

And what would you say if we told you that you could learn it with Portuguese movies?

If you still haven’t tried it, now it’s the perfect moment.

Watching movies is one of the most entertaining ways to learn a language.

So, where can you find the best Brazilian and Portuguese movies?

Anywhere on the internet. 

Netflix, Amazon, and other similar websites have an enormous collection of movies, including the ones from Portuguese-speaking countries.

So in the following lines, we will show you the top 10 Brazilian and Portuguese movies you can enjoy while learning new phrases at the same time.

And now, let’s dive in.

Brazilian Portuguese Movies

Brazilian cinematography perhaps isn’t well-known globally, but it certainly is one of the best ones.

Among many excellent movies, we’ve chosen some that are worth watching.

Depending on your country of residence, some Portuguese movies on Netflix might not be available. If you find them amusing, you can search for them on other websites, such as Amazon or FilmDoo.

Ciudade de Deus (City of God)

This crime movie was released in 2002 in Brazil and worldwide in 2003. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Paulo Lins.

The story takes place in Rio de Janeiro’s suburb called ‘Cidade de Deus’ between the 1960s and 1980s.

The main character is a boy, Rocket, who wants to become a photographer and once and for all leave the suburb and become someone important. On the other hand, Rocket continually deals with his brother and his gang, who, like many others, don’t mind about the laws and honesty.

Many call it a gangster movie, but it is also named one of the best films in the world. It perfectly describes the reality of one suburb in one of the biggest cities, the inner struggle young people face, and poverty.

Carandiru

Not that Brazilian cinematography is full of crime movies, but when they make them, they are truly amazing.

Carandiru is a drama-crime movie with a story in São Paolo’s largest prison called Carandiru. It tells stories in this notorious prison after the massacre in 1992 when 111 prisoners were killed and 102 killed by the police.

This largest prison in Latin America was everything but not the place it should have been. 

Many consider this movie as one of the most realistic ones and give it the symbol of docudrama.

For those that are sensitive, maybe this movie isn’t the best choice to watch, but it definitely portrayed well the reality we live in.

Bruna Surfistinha (Confessions of a Brazilian Call Girl)

This is a story about a girl Raquel, who was adopted by an upper-class couple. When she was 17 years old, she left her home and started working as a call girl.

Soon, she started writing her blog about the experiences and adopted the name ‘Surfistinha,’ which means ‘little surfer girl.’

The blog became one of the most popular ones in the country, and she became famous as a result. Her life changed completely. She even wrote a book about her experiences.

Since nothing in life is perfect, she got addicted to drugs, which made her do anything for a hit.

O Homem do Futuro (Man From The Future)

Who says that there are no more good Brazilian sci-fi comedies?

This is one of them.

It's about a brilliant scientist João ‘Zero’ Henrique, who researches power sources and makes a time machine. His wealthy friend sponsors him, but he becomes frustrated due to his public humiliation by his secret love. 

One day, he decides to test his machine and accidentally goes back to 1991, on the day he was embarrassed.

Typical Brazilian manners, phrases, and accents are something that will make you want to watch this comedy over and over again.

Era Uma Vez…(Once Upon a Time in Rio)

This movie is about Brazilian Romeo and Juliet.

Two main characters with different social statuses fall in love. Dé is a poor boy from an even poorer part of Rio de Janeiro, Cantagalo. Nina is a girl from a wealthy family.

As a child, Dé witnesses his brother’s murder by a local drug dealer, while his other brother gets banished and arrested.

All Dé wants is to live an everyday and honest life. He finds a job at the kiosk, and there he meets Nina, who he falls in love with at first sight. Their relationship was a secret at first, but when her father finds out, he somehow accepts their relationship.

But, like Romeo and Juliet’s story was a tragic love story, this one didn’t have a happy ending either. Both of them got executed by the police.

Before you find this movie on Netflix, prepare a lot of tissues.

European Portuguese Movies

When you want to improve your listening skills, there are Portuguese podcasts. You can find many amusing podcasts of European Portuguese.

However, if you want to learn something more fun, you can turn to movies.

In the following lines, you can find some of the best European Portuguese movies.

As Mil e Uma Noites (Arabian Nights)

For improving your European Portuguese, you should start with this movie.

Not only that you will improve the language; you will also learn a lot about modern Portuguese history.

It is a drama movie adapted from the original One Thousand And One Nights and telling Portuguese stories.

The names of the movie parts are Volume 1 ‘O Inquieto’ (the Restless One), Volume 2 ‘O Desolado’ (the Desolate One), and Volume 3 ( the Enchanted One).

It is a collection of fantasy tales set up in the modern age, intending to portray Portugal through one year in a fictional way. You have to spend a lot of time with this three-part movie, but you will enjoy every minute of it.

O Pai Tirano (The Tyraniccal Father)

Even though this movie was released a long time ago, in 1941 to be precise, it is a masterpiece of Portuguese cinematography.

This is a movie about social issues and political norms before the war.

The main character, Francisco Mega, falls in love with a girl named Tatão. She is a true cinephile, and Francisco is an amateur theatre actor. His theatre group starts rehearsing the play called ‘O Pai Tirano,’ where Francisco plays a son who is split from his tyrant father.

If you think that it’s a classical romance, then you should watch the movie first. It is a comedy with many evergreen phrases Portuguese people still use.

Sangue de Meu Sangue (Blood of My Blood) 

Here’s one more story that takes place in Lisbon. One of the characters, Marta, is a mother of two, now already adult people. She also lives with her sister, who works as a hairdresser.

One day, Marta’s daughter reveals that she’s in love with her professor and has an affair with him. Marcia’s son gets involved in drug dealing.

One perfect family, at first sight, gets shaken by these embarrassing things, and the melodrama starts here.

What will happen? Will they be the family they used to be in the beginning?

Besides a typical Lisbon accent, you can see how relations within one family can change in less than a week.

Vitalina Varela

This Portuguese drama is all about marginalized souls.

The main character, a woman, Vitalina Varela, in her 50s, comes from Cape Verde, a former Portuguese colony.

Living poor, her husband left for Lisbon to find money and afford them a better life. Or that’s what he promised.

But he never did, and after almost 40 years, Vitalina came to Lisbon to find and oppose him. 

She then discovers that her husband died a week ago. The only thing Vitalina could do is to go to the ghetto where he lived, talking to his neighbors, looking at photos, and introducing her husband’s life.

The more she finds out, the bigger secrets there are about her husband and his life.

This movie is just one more in a row you should watch. You need to pay attention and be concentrated on the whole film.

Aquele Querido Mês de Agosto (Our Beloved Month of August)

Not that Portugal doesn’t have to offer some sweet romantic comedies, but there are so many great movies that it’s challenging to decide which one to mention.

But, here’s a sweet and delightful movie about a Portuguese immigrant family, a father with two kids, a son and a daughter, who are on vacation. The three of them play in a band called Estrelas do Alva during summertime. A girl looks like her mother a lot, which makes her overprotected father even more obsessed and angry that she's becoming a woman too fast.

A group of moviemakers encountered them, so they get an idea to find new actors for their latest project.

Final Thoughts

Any Portuguese tutor would tell you to immerse yourself in the language if you want to speak it fluently.

Watching Portuguese movies can be one of the most successful ways of learning languages.

All these movies are a great way to keep you occupied with the language.

And you also have something useful to do in the upcoming cold weeks.

Approveita! (Enjoy!)