''Gaijin: Roads to Freedom'' (Portuguese: ''Gaijin – Caminhos da Liberdade''), also known as ''Gaijin, a Brazilian Odyssey'', is a 1980 Brazilian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

, the debut film of director

Tizuka Yamasaki Tizuka Yamasaki (born May 12, 1949) is a Brazilian film director. Early life and work Born in Porto Alegre, at the age of 2, Tizuka moved back with her Japanese immigrants parents to the city of Atibaia, in the state of São Paulo. In her teenag ...

. The film is based on real events in the history of

Japanese immigrants The Japanese diaspora and its individual members, known as Nikkei (, ) or as Nikkeijin (, ), comprise the Japanese emigrants from Japan (and their descendants) residing in a country outside Japan. Emigration from Japan was recorded as early as ...

who came to Brazil in search of better opportunities. Its sequel, '' Gaijin 2: Love Me As I Am'', was released on September 2, 2005.

Plot

Japan, 1908. Motivated by poverty in the country and few job prospects, many Japanese have emigrated in search of opportunities. As the emigration company only accepted family groups who had at least a couple, Yamada (Jiro Kawarazaki) and Kobayashi (Keniti Kaneko) who were brothers, see as solution that Yamada would marry Titoe (Kyoko Tsukamoto), who was only 16 years old. Yamada and Titoe had just met and, along with a cousin, they depart to Brazil. After 52 days of travel they finally arrive in Brazil where they will work in Santa Rosa farm, in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, where the coffee expansion was intense. But they stumble upon a foreman who handles settlers with hostility, demanding them to work to exhaustion. In addition their wages are stolen by the owners of the farm, only being treated with respect by other settlers and by Tonho (

Antônio Fagundes Antônio José da Silva Fagundes Filho (born 18 April 1949) is a Brazilian actor, playwright, voice actor, and producer. Renowned for his several performances in stage, film and television, where he frequently works in telenovelas. Biography Fa ...

), the accountant of the farm.

Cast

*Kyoko Tsukamoto as Titoe *

as Tonho *Jiro Kawarazaki as Yamada *Ken Kaneko as Kobayashi *

Gianfrancesco Guarnieri Gianfrancesco Sigfrido Benedetto Marinenghi de Guarnieri (August 6, 1934 – July 22, 2006) was an Italian–Brazilian actor, lyricist, poet and playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a fo ...

as Enrico *Álvaro Freire as Chico Santos *

Louise Cardoso Louise Ferreira Cardoso (born 17 April 1955) is a Brazilian actress, producer, and theatre instructor. She is considered a prolific actress, having had a long career in acting through various mediums, including theatre, film, and television. Ear ...

as Angelina *

José Dumont José Dumont (born 1 August 1950 in Belém, Paraíba) is a Brazilian TV and movie actor, best known for his role as the family father in ''Behind the Sun'' (''Abril Despedaçado''), an award-winning film of director Walter Salles. More recently ...

as Ceará *Yuriko Oguri as Mrs. Nakano *

Clarisse Abujamra Clarisse Mattos Abujamra (born 3 April 1948) is a Brazilian actress, choreographer, and theatre director. She is most known for her roles in Chega da Saudade (2007), A Coleção Invisível (2012), and Como Nossos Pais (2018). Her uncle was a ...

as Felícia *Carlos Augusto Strazzer as Dr. Heitor *Dorothy Leirner as Grazziela *Maiku Kozonoi as Keniti Nakano

References

External links

* {{Festival de Gramado Best Picture Award 1980s historical drama films Brazilian historical drama films Films about immigration Films directed by Tizuka Yamasaki Films set in 1908 1980s Japanese-language films 1980s Portuguese-language films 1980 drama films 1980 films 1980s Brazilian films Films about Japanese Brazilians