I reply to this by saying, first, I loved this movie, and second, that every large country, anymore, has a significant amount of poverty and less and less opportunity to scale the socioeconomic ladder......
But Brazil has a very devastating economy and very little (almost no) social programs to help the impoverished. In fact, I think it was almost bordering on third-world status up until just eight years ago when a lot of reforms went into play.
Having been there many times, having a sister-in-law from there, again, like any country they can throw swanky parties have fancy, glossy brochures (being a tropical destination doesn't hurt), but the real story, the real look of Brazil's major cities is slums and squalor. In the major cities the population increase has been so much in the last decades that people with little income live in slums.. they call these favelas.
I think Donato's family was from the favelas, yes, one close to the beach (and what beach doesn't look beautiful) but he came from the slums. There are a lot of things that suggest this. I think the reason he and his brother were so close and that the beach and water (Aqua Man and Speed Racer) were a big part of their life was because it was an escape. Donato took his brother to work with him to escape the poor conditions. Violence, muggings, exploitation.
Only very recently has the Brazilian government been giving out money to families in the favelas, not to raise them out of poverty but to help make their lives a bit less miserable. In order to get this money the families have to show that their children are being sent to school and have medical records of some kind. In one slum the families had to show that their children were receiving dental care. And that was enough to qualify for the subsidies. I don't remember feeling that Donato's younger brother went to school at all. I am sure Donato didn't get much of an education outside of the compulsories. But he was a gifted swimmer/life guard and that was his world until Konrad came crashing into it.
SOOOOOO, basically, Donato leaves and for whatever reason, regardless of his relationship ending, doesn't return. It takes his brother a very long time to get enough money to travel after their mother's death, etc. However, the brother does indicate things are changing in Futuro Beach due to tourism. In fact, tourism is the single-most identifying factor for why better infrastructure and opportunity is starting to happen in Brazil. They're hosting the Olympics next year and from what I understand have really put an effort into getting people out of the slums and into better living conditions.
I don't think that Donato's refusal to return has anything to do with going back to a poor economy or being gay. I think Donato is a lost soul. He isn't motivated to stay or go towards the end of the film.
Why Donato comes to this way of living we can discuss and I would love to discuss. I've watched this movie (sometimes just for background noise) at least once a week since I found it on NETFLIX. Again, I have no idea why he stayed in Germany. But at the end of the movie, that beautiful monologue gives a little information.
1.) Water is an essential theme to his life and to his story. The tide coming in and going out is such a beautiful metaphor for who he is. And he did, eventually, find a beautiful place in Germany where the water was almost as magical there as Futuro Beach was.
2.) There is a lot of complexity to him. In the monologue alone there is a sense of yearning.. yearning to be someone else or to have had something bigger to send him in one direction or the other. I think that death on Futuro Beach was the biggest blessing and curse.
Then look at how full-on he lives life. The way he dances, the way he makes love. I think he has a lot of passion and at some point after the relationship ended he couldn't find a way to express this unique passion as much.
The monologue itself should be a topic on here. It is just so abstract what he is saying.
3.) Again, the ending of the film is so beautiful. Just like the beginning of the film is so... look what brought him and Konrad together.. the death of Konrad's "friend".. did Donato feel like he was just taking the physical space of someone that meant a great deal to Konrad? I dunno.
4.) When they're riding off into the fog.. the first and second time I watched this movie.. I just cried and cried. It was sad and it was hopeful. I think as a viewer you're supposed to make up your mind as to which.
To me, the film is about fragility and how some people have so little that tethers them to one place or one person or one family. The film does a great deal in showing this visually and that is what makes it so beautiful to look at.
Just my two cents.
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